


No, It's Bucky

by Candiieace



Series: No, It's Bucky [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bucky / Steve friendship, Bucky is an ass, F/M, Slow Burn, Steve/ reader friendship, but homeboy gotta work for it, will eventually probably get smutty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2018-08-11 12:32:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 30,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7892449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candiieace/pseuds/Candiieace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reader moves back home after a few years and eventually see's Bucky again  6 years after their last conversation. THEN THINGS HAPPEN</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Homeward Bound

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Everyone.  
> This is my first multi chapter story. I am really excited over it because I have lots of things planned.  
> Happy Reading!!!  
> Also all mistakes and errors are mine.

You met Steve Rogers and James Buchanan Barnes when you were 10, Steve pulling a reluctant James by the arm to say hello to you, eventually sitting next to you in the playground when they noticed you were sitting under a tree across the school field on your first day. You immediately became best friends with Steve, having lots in common with the shy blond boy. James was another story. Yes, you two eventually became somewhat close friends but there was always some sort of awkwardness behind every interaction. It was almost like he couldn’t be comfortable around you, even at that young age.

That awkwardness only got worse as you all got older and went to High school. James was tall, athletic and popular. And attractive. That bastard was so god damn attractive. Every week he seemed to be dating some new girl so you saw less and less of him which actually made you miss his sarcastic smile and lame jokes. You and Steve were as close as ever, even though he changed dramatically over one summer, growing more than a few inches in height and a whole lot of muscles. You changed a lot over the summer before senior year too, losing a little weight and finally gaining some curves. You were also in your first relationship, well as real as High School relationships can be. This is when your friendship with James went from great friends to just a polite. He always seemed very tense around you especially when he found out both you and your boyfriend would be a part of the group. 

You stopped talking completely after graduation. You had just broken up with your boyfriend the week before and were upset. As you were walking to the bathroom to fix your makeup before all the pictures happened, as you were reapplying your makeup at the counter, you heard voices float through the bathroom. Voices that were talking about the girls in your grade. Voices that were talking about you especially. One voice in particular was talking about how you apparently still looked like you were 10 years old. Now that voice you knew, it was James Buchanan Barnes.

Storming out of the bathroom, you rounded the corner and walked straight up to the group of boys, a look of horror on their faces as you punched James straight in the face.

“What the hell is your problem, (Y/N)!!?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you!! How dare you. You can all go fuck yourselves!” 

And with that you stormed back into the bathroom, wiping away a few tears that had escaped. No, there was no way you were going to let them.. Let HIM ruin your day. After taking a deep breath, you fixed your makeup and walked out sporting the biggest smile you could make. No one knew about you crying and you were damn well going to keep it that way. When you eventually told Steve why James was now sporting a bleeding nose, the look on his face almost made you forget the horrible conversation you just overheard. 

Almost.

That was the last time you saw him. You went away to college, stayed in close contact with Steve(who tried and failed to mend the friendship between you and James) and tried to live in blissful ignorance. But that didn’t mean that James wouldn’t try numerous times to get in contact with you over the years but all his messages went unanswered. Steve tried once to pass a message along from James but after you snapped at him, he never mentioned James again. You were happy to live your life without that asshat in your life but that was until you moved back home. 

You had finally gained your teaching degree and found a job straight away in your old home town. It had been over 6 years since you were home. You were 25 now, an adult who was ready to start your job as a teacher in your old elementary school.  
The night you found out you got the job you jumped online to skype with Steve straight away to tell him.

“Guess who is coming home!!!”

“What? When? How?”

“I’ll be home in a month, I got a job at our old elementary school as a sub. This is it Steve. I am so excited. I just need to find a place to live and then I’m home for good!!” The excitement was just pouring off you. This was probably the most exciting news you ever had.

“Oh shit, that’s where Bucky works.”

“Who and what is a Bucky?”

It was odd seeing Steve smirk, but there he was on camera with a smug little look on his face “nothing. Forget I said anything. You’re gonna love being home, (Y/N), you’ll see.”

(One Month Later)

Steve met you with open arms at the doorstep to your new apartment. You practically flew out of your car and into his arms for a hug.

“Welcome home you dork.” His arms moving to pull you into a hug, squeezing you tight.

“Calm down muscles, I can’t breathe!”

You laughed at Steve’s red face and pinched his side. It didn’t matter that you two were now so much older, Steve was still so much like the sweet shy but bold young boy you befriended all those years ago.

“How cute, does this mean I get a hug too?”

You looked to the mystery voice and saw James standing on the steps, a slight smirk on his face.

How was it possible for him to look even better than he did in High School. 

“You remember Bucky, don’t you (Y/N)?”

“What!” You hissed and turned to glare at Steve. “You fucker.”


	2. Get out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky continues to be the 'charmer' that he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys,  
> Hope you are enjoying this fic.  
> Just a little note. The story will refer to Bucky as well... Bucky. Only the reader will refer to him as James and there is a reason behind this.  
> Happy reading!  
> All errors are mine. I tend to do a lot of the writing when I am on the bus to and from work so....

“Now that’s not nice to say to your two oldest friends.” Bucky walked down the steps, a smirk on his stupidly attractive face. No… not stupidly attractive. Just his stupid smug face that you want to punch over and over again. “Are you really not going to hug me? I’m hurt, (Y/N). Still angry at me after all these years?”

“I’m too tired to deal with this bullshit. I have a car to unpack and an apartment to fill. Go away James.” Storming past Bucky, you stomped up the steps to your new apartment

Bucky couldn’t help but chuckle, a big smile crossing his face. “Missed you too, doll but no can do. I have officially been asked by our bestie Steve here to help with the furniture and honestly, you couldn’t pay me to leave.”

The look you shot Steve could have killed a man.

“Steve did what?”

The terror on Steve’s face was almost comical. Like a baby bird being hunted down by its prey. “I needed someone else to help bring in your furniture. It’s not like you could do it.”

Bucky slung his arm around your shoulder and pulled you in tight. “The old gang is back together, just like old times.”

“Don’t touch me.” Shoving his arm off you, you pushed away and started walking into your new apartment building before turning around and tossing your car keys straight at Bucky’s head. It’s a shame though that he caught them. “Well come on, my car isn’t going to unpack itself.”

There was no way you were going to let James ruin this moment for you. After all these years, you were finally employed as a teacher and living in your own apartment. Not a shared apartment. This one was all yours. Yes it was old and cost a fortune but it was yours and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Your hands shook slightly as you opened the door. This was it. You were finally home. It was just too bad that Bucky was the first person up the stairs.

“Are you going to make us stand in the hall while we carry all your shit?”

“You don’t have to be here!” How was it that this man could still drive you insane? It had only been what, 15 minutes since you saw him and you were already plotting ways to kill him. You could hear Bucky chuckling behind you as you walked inside, walking straight through to the kitchen counter to place your bag down.

It felt good to be home.

It took 2 hours for your car to be emptied and you apartment to be filled with assorted furniture and boxes. Steve was busy trying and failing to put your bed together while Bucky was just hovering around, not helping at all, instead giving commentary as he watched you unpack a box of pots and pans.

Slamming down a fry pan, you turned to the man in question and shot him the filthiest glare your face could make.

“What the hell is your problem, (Y/N)? Why are you being such a bitch to me? What have I ever done to you?”

“You mean besides avoid me for most of senior year and then talk shit about me behind my back to all your dumb friends! Or the fact you are literally doing NOTHING right now besides being a pain in my ass” See, now you were just pissed. Did he honestly not remember all the shit he did during your senior year? All the teasing, the glares, the stupid comments and jokes on your behalf. Was he honestly enjoying just sitting there bugging the crap out of you as you tried to get yourself settled into your new home?

“Wait, this is about high school?”

“YOU CALLED ME A BOY.”

“Actually I said you were as short as a 10 year old boy. Which you were so I don’t see what the big deal is. You’re taller now and you punched me in the face so I think I ended up being more hurt than you did in the end.”

Yeah well I don’t remember it like that.” You mumbled, forcefully throwing assorted pots into a cupboard and avoiding eye contact. “I should have punched you harder…”

“Is this seriously why you haven’t spoken to me in 7 years. Because I made some stupid comment as a kid.”

“You were also an asshole and judging from this interaction, I highly doubt that has changed.’’

That smug little smirk returned to James face. God you hated it. “You love it.”

“Get out.”

“We were kids and I didn’t want to admit it.”

“Admit what?” What the hell was he on about?

“Nothing. Forget I said anything. Look, I can stay and help out or I can go and you will never hear from me again. It’s your choice. But if it helps.. I have missed you, (Y/N).”

You didn’t want to believe a word he said but the look on his face actually had you considering it. But then he opened his mouth and ruined it.

“And you are obviously in love with me so let’s stop all this pretending and finally do something about your obvious sexual feelings for me.” You stood there in shock as Bucky tried to pull you closer.

“Oh my god. Get the fuck out.”

A loud laugh erupted from Bucky as he backed away towards the front door. “See you at work bright and early Monday morning, doll. I’m really looking forward to working with you.”

That bastard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He is such a little shit but that is why we love him :D  
> Don't forget to leave kudos or a comment or send me a message on tumblr.  
> I'm verycoolveryunique over there.  
> Til next time :)


	3. No, It's Bucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader starts her first day of work and has to work near the man of the nightmares, Bucky Barnes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone.  
> Here is Part 3. I hope you all enjoy it.   
> All mistakes and errors are mine, also I live in Australia so i really have no idea how American Schools go so I am just basing it off what I know from movies and also the school I went to.  
> Have fun and I shall see you all next time   
> xo

Monday came way too quickly. You thought you had given yourself enough time to properly settle down and move in but here you were, late Sunday night with an apartment still full of over packed and empty boxes, plus a kitchen that barely had anything in it besides a few packets of potato chips, a jar of pickles and a jar of pasta sauce. And to top it all off, you had to be up for your first day of work the following day and you were not prepared at all. This Adult thing just seemed to be going so great. 

The loud knock on your door gave you a fright, jumping up from the couch you made your way to the front door. It was late. Who the hell thought it would be okay to bang on your door this late at night. Grumbling you stood on your tippy toes and peeked through the little peephole. You never expected to see James standing there. What the hell was he doing here? Tugging your sleep shirt back into place on your shoulder, you opened the door to reveal Bucky standing there carrying two big brown grocery bags filled with groceries and whatnot.

His eyes travelled up your small frame, pausing slightly as your shirt slipped over your shoulder again before resting on your face. You can feel the flush across your cheeks; the look on his face was making you uncomfortable. But the problem is you just didn’t know which kind of uncomfortable it was.

“James, What are you doi-“

“I thought you might need some food. Steve told me you have barely left this place since you moved in and I just thought…”

Wow. That was actually sweet of him. This is one thing you never expected in your wildest dreams. “Oh. Thank you... That was very thoughtful of you. But you didn’t have to.”

The silence that followed was awkward. You didn’t really know how to react to this. Every interaction with Bucky up to this point has been either an argument or a conversation just seeping with sarcasm and snark.

“Well I won't waste any more of your time. Do you want me to put them on your kitchen counter or…?”

“Oh. Umm. Counter please.” You moved out of the way to let Bucky in, trying to tug down your sleep shorts so they covered more skin all the while watching him walk over to your kitchen counter and place the bags down. They were filled to the brim with food; this must have cost him a fortune.

“James... You have to let me pay you back for this.”

“No, don’t worry about it. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow. “ And with that he was gone, closing the door softly behind him as he left. What the hell was that?

You had a restless night, constantly waking up thinking about that weird interaction with Bucky earlier and the nerves over your first day of work looming, making you toss and turn till the very early hours of the morning. After only a solid 2 hours of sleep, you woke up for your first day of work very unrested and confused. Today was going to be a long day. What else could possibly go wrong?

It was surreal moment when you pulled into the car park of your old elementary school and your new place of employment. It had barely changed at all since you were last there. Walking up the stairs into the main office had you shaking slightly. After you checked in with the front office you went straight through to the principal’s office to greet your new boss. You did the routine tour, following behind and re acclimating yourself to the environment, you even got a chance to meet other staff members that were to become your colleagues. Some who even remembered you when you were a student there. It was a pretty good first day; you would be spend the next 2 weeks assisting one of the teachers whose class you would be taking over while she went off to have surgery.

Upside: The class was lovely. It was a 6th grade class of about 20 students’ maybe.

Downside: It was a connecting classroom which meant that you would have another teacher and their class right next to yours, meaning you were only separated by a very thin wall which meant that all the noise would be carried through to the adjoining room. It would have been alright if it had been any other teacher but with the way your luck was going, of course it was Bucky’s class. A few days ago you would have been able to just ignore it and get on with your lessons but after the way he looked at you last night, you wanted to stay as far away from his as possible till you figured out why he did and why it didn’t really bug you.

When lunch time came you were more than ready for a break. You didn’t realise how tiring teaching would be, and to think that today was only shadowing and assisting. Next week you were expected to start contributing to the lesson plans. And the fact you had to try to drown out Bucky’s annoying voice every few minutes tired you out more that you thought.

You felt awkward walking into the staff room for lunch; you felt like you were a kid again. You broke out into a smile when you saw Wanda run up to you and grab your hand and pull you to her table; you had met her earlier in the day and had immediately liked her. She was only a year or 2 younger than you and she had started here a few weeks before you so it felt good to have a friend at work that understood your nerves. And it was easy to talk to her especially because the two of you had a lot in common. Too bad the rest of your lunch was ruined when Bucky took a seat next to you, stealing the other half of your lunch.

“Hey!” You tried and failed to snatch your food back from the devil himself.

“Bucky, you can’t do that. Especially to people you don’t know!” 

“It’s alright, Wanda. (Y/N) and I go way back. Isn’t that right, Doll?”

“Unfortunately. Don’t you have your own lunch?!” You grumble loudly as you take a sip of your coffee, glaring at Bucky who seemed to be enjoying your reaction.

“Oh my stars!! You’re friends with Bucky and now you are working together. That is so CUTE.” God damn it. Why did everyone find Bucky charming? He was nothing of the sort.

“We are not friends! And working with Jackass James here is going to be anything BUT cute.” You reply, pushing Bucky’s arm off your shoulder as he tried to pull you closer. 

“We are the absolute BEST of friends, and it’s about time you start calling me buck, Doll”

“Sorry, what was that? Billy?”

“No, it’s Bucky.”

You could see Bucky’s jaw clench slightly every time you called him a different name and you couldn’t help the little smirk that was on your lips. It was fun annoying him. “Bobby?”

“Why are you acting as if you don’t know my name, Doll?!”

“Call me doll again and I will cut off your favourite appendage. And I know your name. It’s JAMES.” God he bugged you but seeing the look on his face when you called him by his name made it so much better.

Smirking, Bucky moves closer to whisper in your ear just loud enough for you to hear. “Just tempted to get your hands on me, aren’t you:” 

The End of Lunch Bell gave you an out to this conversation. You got up to leave, scoffing and rolling your eyes at the reason for your now throbbing headache. “Goodbye James.” As you turned to wave goodbye to Wanda, you noticed Bucky looking at you that way again. It was troubling that it still didn’t bug you as much as you knew it should have.


	4. T.G.I.F

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There isn't as much hatred between Bucky and the reader until Bucky opens his mouth and becomes a sarcastic little shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. But here is part 4. Hope you enjoy.  
> As always, all errors and stuff are mine.

Your first month of work was over before you knew it. It honestly just flew by, so when you finished the hand over with the original teacher after the first two weeks, it hadn’t quite sunk in. It was later as you sat in the classroom Monday afternoon watching the kids say their goodbyes that you realised that you were now officially their teacher. You had as class that would be yours for a small period of time. It was such a thrilling feeling knowing that all that time you spent studying hard had paid off and gotten you work.

In the few weeks you had been at work, you had gotten close with Wanda or Miss Maximoff if you were amongst students. The two of you had lunch together every day. And every day it would be interrupted by your biggest headache. Why he felt the need to bug you so much was a mystery to you. And the fact that Wanda found it adorable was just straight up annoying. Every day he would go out of his was to bug you, or even just purposefully be in your line of sight so he could just egg you on with a sarcastic comment or a stupid look on his face. He had been worse in the past but that didn’t matter, you found it annoying. You found him annoying.

Today was no different than any other day, Wanda and yourself were sitting near one of the large windows in the staff room, the sunshine warming your skin through the glass as you both began to eat your food.

“Let’s go out for drinks tonight, (Y/N). I need adult interaction and conversation. There is a great TGIF bar near my place. We can meet up later and let off some steam . Please!!!” Wanda was practically begging. She had had a tough week with her students. They tended to not listen to her in class and it was really upsetting her and you couldn’t blame her. If that was you, it would really get you down. And with the way Wanda was looking at you, you couldn’t say no. It would break her heart.

“Okay! We can do drinks but nothing too crazy”

And as if like clockwork, Bucky walked into the staff room and headed straight over to you, stealing half your lunch (which you ended up just giving to him because he would just make a scene and be dramatic) and then just sat opposite you, that stupid smirk evident on his face as he at the other half of your focaccia sandwich . How could someone who was that annoying and juvenile be a great teacher? And it honestly pained you to admit that, but it was true. He was surprisingly great with the kids. Bucky had a first grade class and they absolutely adored him. And it wasn’t just his class that adored him, you noticed it around the school, it was also the other teachers that found him charming and a lot of the students. Heck, even a few of the girls in your class seem obsessed with him but that could have more to do with what he looks like than his teaching style. Look, you weren’t blind. James is good looking, really good looking. He always has been, that’s the problem. He uses it to his advantage most of the time but his shithead personality has always ended up working against him when it came to you.  One of the benefits of knowing him for  years, you remembered half of his ‘go to’ moves when getting what he wants.

“Drinks? I love to drink. I’m invited, right Doll? Same place as last time.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at Bucky. “Oh god, you two do this often?”

“Of course we do and the more the merrier. Oh, I’ll invite my brother. I think you would really like him, (Y/N). He is super cute!”

“That’s creepy.”

“You know what I mean. Eeee! I am so excited. Bucky, you need to pick (Y/N) up, she doesn’t know where we are going. Tonight is going to be so fun.” Wanda’s excitement made you smile. Well until Bucky opened his mouth.

“Oh goody, I’ve always wanted to pick (Y/N) up.”

You didn’t trust the way Bucky was looking at you. “Watch yourself Barnes.”

“So I’m Barnes now, one step closer to being called Bucky.” The cocky smile on his face annoyed you. Tonight was going to be a long night.

Your day ended far too quickly and due to you being distracted in class, you had to stay back a bit to finish your prep for the next week. You barely made it home in time to get changed into the only ‘dressy’ pair of paints you owned which ended up being your skin tight jeans, high heeled boots and your favourite tee before there was a knock on your front door.  You sighed loudly as you opened the door.

“ All ready for our date, doll?” Bucky stood at your door, dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans and a blue buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up as far as they could go on his forearms. He looked good, and you hated it.

“Don’t be stupid. It’s not a date.” You quickly grabbed your handbag and pushed Bucky out of your doorway and locked your door behind you.

“So shy. How adorable.” Rolling your eyes, you started walking down the flight of steps and out onto the sidewalk, Bucky trailing behind you. “You will probably hit me, but I have to say it. Your ass looks great in those jeans.”

You couldn’t help but spin around and punch his arm as hard as you could. “You fucking perv. Stop looking at my ass.”

“What, it’s not like I said anything that was untrue.” Your face broke out in a slight blush as Bucky just shrugged,  walking towards his bike and holding a helmet out for you.

“Wait… We are going on that? Where is your car? We can use mine, I have a perfectly good car parked downstairs.”

“Cheaper parking this way, come on. Put the helmet on and stop being such a baby.”

You couldn’t help rolling your eyes as you put the helmet on, latching it and then hesitating before sitting behind Bucky on the back of his bike. Your hands awkwardly resting on your own thighs as you realised what was about to happen.

“Doll, you need to put your arms around me so we can go.”

“I’m fine like this.”

Snorting, Bucky grabs your hands and puts them around his middle. “What did I say about being a baby. Hold on tight. If you’re going to try to cop a feel, at least warn me.” You were about to argue with him before he started the engine, kicked the stand and sped off without any warning, making you squeeze him tighter as he drove between all the traffic.

It barely took you 20 minutes to get to the bar. The second Bucky stopped the bike, you practically jumped off the back of it, passing over the helmet and moving as far away from him as possible. Thank goodness you saw Wanda pulling up at the same time. You needed space between you and Bucky. You only gave a vague answer when Wanda asked how the drive over here was. The problem wasn’t with the drive because that was fine. It was the fact that your body liked  the way you were holding onto Bucky, and that worried you.

A lot.


	5. I love rock and roll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to get interesting between Bucky and the reader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone.   
> Sorry this chapter has taken so long to upload, I had a very bad throat infection that I am still in the process of getting rid of but at least the bad bit is over.  
> Enjoy and excuse all the mistakes, they are no ones fault but my own.

Wanda’s idea of a T.G.I.F bar wasn’t exactly the kind of bar you were thinking of. T.G.I.F to you meant a dingy dive bar with a pool table, cheap drinks and maybe a jukebox. Her idea was a loud, packed karaoke bar with far too many cheap lights and obnoxious drinks that had more sugar in it than actual alcohol. And to top it all off, you hated doing karaoke. Okay, so maybe hate was a strong word. You just disliked THIS kind of karaoke. The kind of karaoke that is just bad pop songs mostly about sex and a whole lot of embarrassment. Looks like tonight is going to be a barrel of fun.

You walked in arm in arm with Wanda, Bucky trailing behind uncharacteristically quiet. You could feel Wanda bouncing with excitement as the three of you found an empty booth in the back to sit in, your first round of drinks being ordered immediately for Wanda and yourself, Bucky sticking with just a glass of coke as you all waited for more people to arrive, one of those being Wanda’s brother Pietro. You could tell by the way Wanda talked about her twin that they were really close. It kind of made you wish you had a sibling too.

You also had to deal with  the fact Bucky was sitting very close to you right now. There was a whole booth to sit at and he decided that it was imperative that he squish in close to you.

Was this room always this warm?

It was a little later in the night that you met Pietro and a few of his friends. You were sitting alone when Wanda immediately introduced you to them but ended up forcing Pietro to sit and start a conversation with you. It was a little awkward at first but after a while you realised that you and Pietro had a lot in common. You both had similar taste in movies and books and it was when you were talking about what you both did for work that you discovered that Pietro actually worked at the gym near your apartment, him being a personal trainer.

Pietro seemed like he could be someone you could see yourself being friends with. And it was just an added bonus that he was cute. The two of you were getting a long quite well when Bucky interrupted you, clearing his throat and placing a beer in front of you.

“Oh, thanks. Have you two met before? Pietro this is James-“

You didn’t even get a chance to continue before Bucky just walked away, going straight to an empty booth and pulling his phone out, glaring at his surroundings before ignoring everyone to use his phone. What the hell was up his ass?! You face bore hints of a small smile when you saw Wanda run up to him and drag him over to the karaoke deck, flipping through songs with her as she waved her hands around in excitement.

“Is he always such a dick?”

“Yes. 100% of the time… So, do you come to Karaoke bars a lot, or only when your sister forces you too?” You couldn’t help but grin at Pietro’s face, taking a sip of your beer to hide your laughter.

“Only when I’m guaranteed to meet pretty girls.”

Even though you weren’t attracted to Pietro, the comment still made you blush. It had been a long time since someone had called you pretty. You had a chance to escape the conversation when Wanda stumbled over to you, she was well on her way to becoming drunk and was giddy over the fact Bucky had picked a song for her to sing.

There was a look of concern on your face when she heard her name called and made her way to the stage. Wanda was stumbling slightly after only 3 drinks so this was just going to be embarrassing. Of course Bucky walked over to you and was laughing uncontrollably as the song started.

“You seriously chose that song, James?”  

“Wanda will be fine. She loves singing this type of shit so I don’t see this as a problem.” You immediately nudged Bucky with your elbow, laughing softly as his face broke out into a big grin. “Don’t be mean.”

“Oh my god, I need to film this.”

“James, no!” You tried and failed to grab Bucky’s phone. At least he seemed to be in happier spirits, too bad it came at the expense of Wanda.

Wanda held the mic close to her lips as she started to slur out the words to the song, complete with dramatic dance moves.

**_I saw him dancin’ there by the record machine_  
I knew he must a been about seventeen  
The beat was goin’ strong  
Playin’ my favorite song**

Poor Wanda. Alcohol was not her friend. Especially now she was starting to sway in her spot. You handed your drink to Bucky and made your way to the stage, hoping up and standing next to Wanda, your arm going around her to hold her up and support her as she belted out the next verse.

**_An’ I could tell it wouldn’t be long_  
Till he was with me, yeah me,  
An’ I could tell it wouldn’t be long  
Till he was with me, yeah me, singin’**

The way Wanda was smiling brought a smile to your face as well. It was nice seeing everyone just have fun and be silly. Although you would have enjoyed it more if she hadn’t moved the microphone to your face to sing with her.                                                                  

**_I love rock n’ roll_  
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby  
I love rock n’ roll  
So come an’ take your time an’ dance with me**

You sang along to the song softly, Wanda’s voice drowning out your voice as she sung her heart out. As you looked out amongst the crowd, you noticed Bucky laughing at the two of you still. Asshole.

It was right before the next verse that Wanda stopped singing momentarily, forcing you to finish the song as she looked around for some water.

**_He smiled so I got up and’ asked for his name_  
That don’t matter, he said,  
‘Cause it’s all the same  
Said can I take you home where we can be alone  
An’ next we were movin’ on  
He was with me, yeah me  
Next we were movin’ on  
He was with me, yeah me singin’**

It felt awkward to sing, you weren’t particularly good and you hated the feeling of everyone watching you. It was also made worse by the way Bucky’s eyes were locked on you. Oh lord, you knew he was going to tease you about this endlessly from now on.

**_I love rock n’ roll_  
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby  
I love rock n’ roll  
So come an’ take your time an’ dance with me**

Wanda took a dramatic bow as everyone clapped, you helped Wanda down and over to your booth, she was already talking about her next song and then on to how the two of you could be the ultimate girl group. Drunk Wanda was hilarious. You hated to admit it but you were having fun. But it was obvious to probably everyone in the room that Wanda needed to lay off the alcohol and only drink water now, so you made your way to the bar to order a jug of cold water for the petite girl.  You were in the middle of a conversation with Pietro at the bar when Bucky walked over and interrupted the two of you.

“We have to go.”

Turning around, you looked at Bucky in confusion. “What why? I’m talking to Pietro, can it wait?”

You noticed the way Bucky’s jaw was clenched. “No. It can’t.”

As you were saying your goodbyes to everyone, Pietro pulled you aside where he thought the two of you were out of earshot. He handed you a little slip of paper and wished you a lovely night. You missed the way Bucky was clenching his jaw again. He practically dragged you out of the building after you hugged Wanda goodnight, she was half asleep in the booth with one of Pietro’s friends who was one of the few sober people in the room watching her.

To say it was a tense ride home is an understatement. When you suggested that you could just take a cab home, Bucky refused. It was only when he had dropped you off at your apartment that he seemed to have relaxed. You weren’t too sure what to do as you both stepped off the bike and handed him your helmet.

“Uh, thanks for the ride home.”

“Anytime.” It surprised you when he pulled you in for a quick hug. “Sweet dreams, Y/N.”

You were momentarily stunned that A) the two of you were hugging and B) that Bucky had initiated it that you didn’t even get a chance to react or say goodbye before Bucky was speeding off. Shaking your head you walked into your apartment, locking the door behind you before immediately getting changed into your pyjamas and going to bed. You had gotten tired very quickly and were asleep the minute your head hit the pillows.

 

You woke up late Saturday morning, stretching slightly before looking over to your window. Too bad there was a person sitting across from you. You immediately grabbed your pillow and threw it at the intruder, screaming.

 

“BLOODY HELL, STEVE!”

He caught the pillow easily and started laughing at you, propping his feet on your bed and taking a sip of his coffee.

“You gave me a key; you should expect this to happen. Also you’re out of coffee.”

Huffing, you pulled your covers over your head and burrowed into them, hissing slightly as your head pounded with every movement. You hadn’t felt drunk last night but oh boy you really felt the after effects now. “Go away.”

“I heard you went out last night.”

Throwing the covers off, you sat up and glared at Steve and the shit eating grin on his face. What the hell was he up to? “Yeah, so?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just heard that Buck was there.” The glare on your face made Steve continue, him smirking a little. “You two seem to be kind of getting along.”

“Shouldn’t you be happy we are getting along? We went out with a girl from work; he picked me up on his bike? What of it? How the hell do you know this shit?! ”

Putting his coffee down, Steve chuckled. “Wait, hold up. He picked you up on his bike? Holy shit, I knew it.”

“Knew what? What are you dribbling on about?” rolling on to your stomach, you put a pillow over your head, you skull pounding every time you had to speak.

“Nothing, nothing. Come on, get changed. We are going out to get food.” You yelped when Steve smacked you on the butt. “Come one, get up. Get up, get up, get up.”

Scowling, you threw another pillow at Steve, hitting him square in the face. “Have I ever told you I hate you?”

“Love you too, (Y/N).”

Your weekend ended in a blur. You spent most of Saturday with Steve, him bugging the crap out of you because you and Bucky were being nice to each other. You had to work together; of course you had to be nice. And it wasn’t as if he didn’t still annoy you because he did, he just didn’t seem to bug you as much as before. Lord knows why.

 

You were halfway through your lunch on Monday when Bucky sat next to you, his arm going straight over the back of your chair as he stole mug of coffee and took a sip, his nose scrunching at the taste. “Let’s go get some coffee?”

“Are you asking me on a coffee date, James?” You raised your eyebrow, smirking at the look on his face. After Friday, the two of you had been a lot more sarcastic and teasing with each other.

“What… No –

“It’s okay, I would want to date me if I was a guy. I am pretty cute sometimes”

“No, that’s not… That’s beside the point –“

“Bucky. What the hell.  You ask (Y/N) out and not me. How rude. Where is my coffee date proposal?”

Bucky couldn’t help but laugh and roll his eyes, rubbing his hand over his face to hide the slight blush across his cheeks. “You two are insane. I thought you were my friend Wanda, and now you’re siding with (Y/N)?!  But honestly, this coffee is shit and I would kill for real coffee. So are we all going on a coffee run or not?”

Wanda was already out of her seat when she replied, quickly patting Bucky on the head which made him frown. “Only if you’re paying, Bucky.” For someone so small, Wanda sure was strong, she practically pulled you out of your seat and linked your arm with hers as the three of you (with an unusually quit Bucky trailing behind)  made your way out of the school office and down towards the coffee shop down the road.

“I wonder what Steve will say when I tell him James thinks I’m cute and that he asked me out.”

“I DIDN’T ASK YOU OUT”

“But you still think I’m cute.”  He was making it too easy to tease him. And it’s about time he got teased as well, someone needed to give him a dose of his own medicine and you were just happy it was you giving it.

Bucky stomped ahead of the two of you, his face all scrunched up with a frown as he grumbled. “You two can pay for your own damn coffee.”


	6. It happened for like a month

 Bucky was hovering near your classroom door and it was distracting you. The end of day bell was moments away from going off and this shit head couldn’t even wait till then to do whatever he had planned. You rolled your eyes and exhaled loudly as you heard a light tapping on the door. A few of the students were giggling over the fact that (the adult baby) one of their favourite teachers was trying to hide from plain sight. It was almost a relief when the bell went and the students started running out, eager to get out of school as fast as possible. There were a few stragglers though, a few girls giggling as they waved goodbye to Bucky and wishes him a happy afternoon.

You busied yourself with packing up your belongings for the day as you heard Bucky try to break off from the girls and make his way over to you, eventually sitting on the edge of the table and clearing his throat.

Exhaling loudly again, you turned to face Bucky, snorting softly at the stupid smile on his face.

“If you’re here to bug me, you’ve already succeeded, so you can go away now.”

You can see the smile on his face get bigger as he starts to drum his fingers on the desk. “So, whatcha doing?”

“Stop trying to be cute. What do you want?” You smack his hand as he starts to rummage through the stuff on your desk, moving papers around as he tries to snoop. “James, stop it.” You can’t help but whine as grins at you as he continues to mess your desk up.

“Wait, what the hell is this?” Bucky grabs a piece of paper off your desk, shaking it in front of your face.

“It’s my copy of the time table slot so I can get the class to use the media room.”

  
This is bullshit, you have been here like two months and you already have that booked. I’ve been here nearly a year and always get turned down!”

You didn’t mean to laugh but he just looked like such a little kid right now “I guess they like me more. Looks like you’re not as popular as you thought you were, Barnes.” You gently poke Bucky in the chest and laugh at the horror on his face.

“Don’t laugh at me. People love me here.”

“Uh-huh. Okay James.” You go to poke Bucky in the chest again when he grabs your hand, pulling you closer slightly. The look on his face has you pinned in place, only freed when your phone starts to beep from underneath a piece of paper, a new message popping up. You hear Bucky clear his throat as you move to grab your phone, obviously you were too slow to grab your phone though; Bucky snatching it away and scowling as he notices that your new message is from Pietro.

 “So you and Wanda’s brother? It’s .. It’s becoming a thing?”

Snatching your phone back, you put it immediately in your back pocket. “No, he is just helping me join the gym he works at. He can get me a cheaper membership rate cause I need to join one...”

Bucky snorted. “Uh-huh, that’s what he wants you to believe.”

“Goodbye James.” Bucky didn’t budge an inch, he just continued to sit there and look at you. Clearing your throat, you make some distance between the two of you “So is there a reason why you are hovering?”

“I need to… borrow a marker.”

You raised an eyebrow and tilted your head slightly “You stood out there for more than 15 minutes being a pain so you could borrow a marker AFTER everyone has left for the day?”

Bucky was silent for a moment and it took everything in you not to giggle at the expression on his face. He looks somewhat adorable and okay yes, he looked adorable. You were an adult. You could admit that.

 “Yes…”

“You’re so weird.”  You shook your head as you bit your bottom lip, ducking your head to avoid the smile on his face. You opened your desk drawer and pulled out a hot pink marker, turning back to look at him expecting to see a scowl on his face but instead you were met with an unreadable expression on his face, his gaze then traveling on your lips, his own tongue darting out to wet his lips as he continued to stare at you.

Clearing your throat, you hastily closed your drawer “Anything else I can help you with?”

Silence.        

“Nope.”  He jumps off your desk and turns to leave before pausing, turning back as his tongue peeked out to quickly wet his bottom lip.  “Coffee yesterday was fun. We should do it again. Thanks for the marker, doll” He quickly kisses your cheek, smiling as he notices the slight pink tint to your face. “Next time it’s your turn to pay!”

“In your dreams, Barnes. “

You can hear his laughter echo down the corridor as he walks away.

 

 

Steve’s couch was surprisingly comfortable. It looked like shit so you had your reservations but you were moments away from just curling up and falling asleep on him as he spoke animatedly about something.

You had met up with Pietro earlier that day as he too you around the gym, giving you a free Personal Training Session that left you tired and sore. You had just gotten home when Steve called you, inviting you over to his place for drinks with a few of his friends. You only promised to go if he didn’t give you shit for smelling like a sweat ball.

And it also gave you a chance to meet Steve’s newest crush. A woman named Sharon from his work. And judging from the way she was smiling at him, the feeling was mutual. When Steve got up to get everyone more Beers, you immediately moved over and took up his and your spot on the couch and spread your body out, making it impossible for him not to sit next to a now blushing Sharon.

You are deep in discussion with two of Steve’s neighbours, Sam and Clint, when Bucky comes through the door, pausing briefly to toss his duffle bag on the floor and walk through to the kitchen.

You feel kind of self-conscious all of a sudden and you don’t know why. You almost don’t hear Sam’s question as Bucky takes a seat, practically sitting on your legs as you lay sprawled out on the couch.

You end up kicking Bucky slightly and are forced to move over as Sam starts talking.

“I just don’t understand how a girl like you can be friends with these two idiots, especially this one over here.” Clint points to Bucky who objects straight away, his brows furrowing as he steals your beer, resulting in you kicking him again. “How can someone who looks like you not have these two hitting on you?”

You tilt your head at Clint’s words and snort. “What, because I’m a girl and their friend, that means they are obligated to hit on me?”

You were having fun messing with Clint, and judging by the way he was sputtering out an answer you got your point across.

“N… No, I..I Just-“

“Who says it wasn’t me hitting on them. Am I not allowed to initiate any kind of sexual encounter?” You take a sip of your beer and raise an eyebrow at Clint, his face red with embarrassment as Bucky started to choke on his own spit, coughing loudly.

“Steve, can I keep her?” Sam was laughing loudly as he looked around the room at everyone’s amused face.

Taking another sip of beer you bit your bottom lip and grinned at Steve. “Besides, been there, done that. Steve was a horrible boyfriend.”

“(Y/N), don’t.” Steve was protesting from the corner, his eyes wide with a look of panic.

“Woah, hold up. No, (Y/N), please do.” Sam looked like a Cheshire cat with the way he was smiling.

“He had some cute moments when we were younger and I noticed for like a month.” You shrug your shoulders and quickly drink the rest of your beer, your feet curling and tucking under your legs.

Steve was red in the face, his eyes wide as he saw Sharon giggling beside him.  “Oh god, kill me now.”

“So, (Y/N), do you have pictures of that time?” Sharon was trying and failing to hide her smile as she rubbed Steve’s back, just pure horror on his face.

It was the sound of feet hitting the floor loudly that got everyone’s attention. “Are we just going to ignore the fact that I know nothing about this?” Bucky looked really annoyed, he had a vice like grip on the side of the couch and a look of pure annoyance on his face and that look was directed straight at Steve. “What the fuck? Why didn’t you tell me?”

 “Oh I’m sorry. Did I forget to tell you during the last 6 years of us being ‘Best Friends’? Get over it. Why do you even care, it was for a month, YEARS ago.” You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms over your chest. What the hell was his problem?

 “Yeah, Buck. Why do you care so much?” Steve was whispering something into Sharon’s ear and judging by the look on her face, she either agreed with what was being said or was shocked by it.

Bucky looks at Steve who has a small smile on his face and glares at him. “Shut the fuck up, Steve.”

The look on Steve’s face dropped in an instant and in a moment of panic, Steve blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Of course it made the room even more tense. “She also told me not to.”

“STEVE! What a load of crap!” You hurled a pillow across the room at Steve, failing miserably in doing any damage as he caught the pillow with a grin and passed it to Sharon to use. They were sickeningly adorable.

“I don’t know what to say cause you are both going to yell at me.” Steve shuffles over closer to Sharon and pretends to use her as some sort of shield. Idiot.

Ignoring Bucky’s complaining that seemed to be on a continuous loop in the back ground, you start to speak over him, your voice getting louder with every passing word. “Moral of the story is, Steve and I dated for a month. And now he is like my disgusting older brother who bugs the crap out of me. AND THAT IS ALL THERE IS TO IT.” You  stand up and place your hand on your hips, everyone watching you to see what was going to happen next.

“So who wants to see embarrassing pictures of these two idiots.”

Some tension disappears from the room as you hear Steve and Bucky both yell “NO.”

 

 


	7. I care.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and the reader star getting closer, more than they ever have before.

It was completely dark outside when you woke up on Steve’s couch. The last thing you remembered was Bucky trying to tickle your feet as Sam made fun of Steve and Sharon. Sitting up, you pulled the blanket off you and looked around. (Where the hell did this blanket come from?)

Bucky was standing in the kitchen with his back to you. The couch creaked a little as you shifted forward which had Bucky turning around, spatula in his hand and a tiny piece of batter on his face

“Hey sleepy head, you hungry?” The sound of your stomach grumbling had him laughing at you. He put the pancakes onto a plate and set it aside as he finished cooking the last few ones.

“Wait, how long have I been asleep? What time is it?” You looked around in search of a clock but of course there was none. What kind of adult functions without a clock?!

“Well it’s midnight, so…”

“Why are you cooking pancakes at midnight?” you wrap the blanket around you and walk over to the kitchen, standing on your tippy toes to peek over Bucky’s shoulder to see the pancakes that actually looked amazing.

“Pancakes are any time food, Y/N. How do you not know this?” Bucky said it as if it was completely normal to be cooking pancakes this late. God, what goes on in this place?

Rolling your eyes, you sneak a piece of pancake off the plate he is holding, smiling innocently as he turns and pretend glares at you, laughing as he tries to hit you with the spatula. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

Bucky nudges you slightly “A lot has changed in 6 years.”

“I’ve noticed.” You mumble, stuffing the rest of the pancake into your mouth and unsuccessfully reaching for another on.

Bucky’s smile seems to get bigger the more you try to snatch a pancake off the plate. You are at a disadvantage seeing as he is taller than you and is holding the plate above his head but at least he can’t say you didn’t try. “Would you wait, woman. Let me at least let me put it on the damn table.” Still holding the plate above his head, he walks over to the couch and places the plate on the coffee table. “Sit.”

“You’re so god damn bossy.” You huff and sit down; stealing another pancake the second Bucky turns and goes back into the kitchen. You can tell he noticed because you could see him slightly shake his head which he continued to do as he walked back with syrup and plates with cutlery. Over the past few weeks you have noticed that you and Bucky were sitting closer than you ever have. Even when you were ‘friends’ throughout school. And honestly it didn’t bother you as much as you thought it would. The two of you were Friends now, it was weird that in the past 3 months, the two of you had become closer than you ever have. Though 4 months ago, you would have rather bludgeoned yourself with a hammer than been in the same room with him, now you actually felt more comfortable with him in the room, especially when he was near you.

Oh god, what were you thinking.

“Hey, anyone in there?” When you come back to, all you see is a hand waving in front of your face. “I lost you for a minute, am I that great of a cook that you went catatonic?!”

“Hardly.” Rolling your eyes, you grab a plate and start to pile it up with pancakes.

“I don’t know how you stay so tiny, you eat like a horse.”

“That’s rich coming from you, the only person who continually steals my lunch. And besides, I burn it off.”

Bucky starts coughing slightly and looks at you with wide eyes“… Is this your way of hinting that you have lots of sex?”

“DUDE, REALLY!! That’s where your mind went?!!!”

“Fuck, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” You couldn’t help snorting at him as his face seems to go a deep shade of red. A comfortable silence settles over the two of you until Bucky decides to ruin it. He hear him clear his throat a few time, the first you don’t notice as you were too engrossed in how many more pancakes you can fit in your stomach before you actually explode but the others you hear and purposefully ignore.  “So…”

Silence.

“Yeah, so..”

Rolling your eyes, you look at him. “What do you want, Barnes?”

“So you and Steve actually dated…”

“We dated for like a month, it was hardly a lasting romance. And besides, we only kissed like twice. I think that one time I was dared to kiss you lasted longer than any of my kisses with Steve.”

“I forgot about that!!” You tried to ignore the look on his face. He was no doubt remembering that party in 8th grade where everyone was playing spin the bottle and your spin landed on Bucky. You can still remember that kiss. It was the most awkward thing that had ever happened to you, and you went through 4 years of braces in high school “Good times.”

“Shut up.” You suddenly felt very cold, shivering slightly as you pull the blanket around you more, avoiding his gaze

“Wait here.” Bucky walks back over to you and tosses one of his hoodies at you, you look up at him with a confused look on your face. “You can borrow that if you want. Because of…” He motions to the work out clothing you have been wearing all day. Leggings and a tank top are hardly warm.

“Thanks…” you take another bite of food before standing up, setting your plate down. “I’m just going to borrow your bathroom real quick.”

Bucky laughs as you shuffle over to the bathroom, closing the door behind you and leaning your back against it. Your heart beating fast for some strange reason.

You couldn’t help but glare at Bucky as you came out of the bathroom, his hoodie looking ridiculously big on you. You shoved him slightly, trying to make him stop laughing at you. “Shut up.”

“Don’t be mad, you just look so adorable.”

You glare at Bucky as he bops you on the nose, swatting his hand away “Keep going James.. I dare you.”

He grins and nudges you. “Come on, I’ll drive you home. Where are your keys?”

“What. How the hell will you get back here? Can’t Steve just come along?” He obviously hadn’t thought this through when he offered.  

“Steve isn’t here. And besides, I can just walk.”

“IT’S LIKE 1 AM NOW.” What an idiot, it was like a 30 minute walk from your place back here. Who does this at that time of the morning?

“I’ll be fine. You’re half asleep, so move and give me your damn keys.” He was holding his hand out like he expected you to just comply. Hell no.

“No- “

“I’ll carry you out there.”

“You wouldn’t dare-“

Bucky actually moved forward to pick you up and put you over his shoulder, but you moved out of the way just in time. You can’t believe he was actually going to do that. You wanted to punch the stupid smirk off his face. He looked so proud for making you panic and practically squeal.

”Fine.” You move and grab your bag, fishing for your keys before passing them to Bucky. What a shit head.

The drive home was awkward. Especially when Bucky started asking you more questions about you and Steve.

“I still can’t believe Steve was your first adult relationship. He seems like such a boring boyfriend.”

“Spent a lot of time thinking about Steve as a boyfriend? And he was never any kind of first, Barnes.” You laugh at the face Bucky pulls. You found it kind of fun to tease him and over the past 2 weeks, you had found yourself teasing him more and more.

 

 Before you knew it, you were pulling into your parking spot at your apartment. The two of you sitting in silence before Bucky speaks.

“Come on, I’ll walk you up to your apartment.” Normally you would have said no but you kind of didn’t want to say goodbye just yet.

The two of you walk in silence. And it is kind of awkward. Why the hell was it awkward now? As you make it to your door, you turn and look at Bucky who has his hands shoved in his pocket, looking at the ground.

“Please be safe on your way home. It’s late.”

He chuckles and looks at you, running a hand through his hair. ”If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought you gave a shit about me.”

“Don’t be an ass. Of course I care.”

He looks at you with a weird look on his face. “I’ll be fine.”

You clear your throat and tell him to give you his phone. You can see the look of scepticism on his face but he hands it to you anyway. You quickly put your number into his phone and call your own so you have his number.

“You better let me know if you made it home safe or I swear to god James, I will kill you.”

He laughs and takes his phone back, a smile on his face that he is trying to hide. “Of course, Doll.”

You roll your eyes and feel yourself moving forward and kissing him on the cheek.

You quickly thank him for bringing you all the way home and wishing him good night, you unlock your door and flee into your apartment, ignoring the heat in your cheeks as you give him a small smile before closing the door. It’s at least 40 minutes later when you get a text from Bucky.

_Home safe and sound – Bucky_

You grab your phone and immediately call him, not even giving him a chance to speak when he answers the call. “BULLSHIT IT TOOK THAT LONG TO GET HOME

“Woah, calm down. I took my time, I am allowed to do that.”

“Stop being a dick.”

You can hear him laughing at you. “Okay, sure thing peach.”

“I don’t like to worry and stop it with the god damn pet names.”

“Well I’m all safe and sound in bed… Wanna know what I’m wearing?” Oh god, what an idiot.

“No-“

“Well, what are you wearing”?

“Goodbye James”

You can hear his stupid laugh over the phone. “Night Doll, see you bright and early Monday morning.”

You roll your eyes and hang up, putting your phone on your dresser and cuddling back into bed, pulling the blankets up around you as you eventually fall asleep, a smile on your face.

You wake up the next day to a text from Bucky, wishing you a good morning. And yes, it brings a small smile to your face. but only a tiny one.

A new text follows that

_By the way, I want my hoodie back._

_Never!_  

You were happy that no one was there to see the grin that was on your face. You type your response and hit send, putting your phone down so you can get up and start your day.


	8. If only he wasn't so charming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings are starting to change and people have noticed. The only question is, has the reader?

Your time here just seemed to be flying by. Before you knew it, this temp job would be over. Thinking about it made you a bit emotional, you had grown attached to this school again, to the kids, to your fellow co-workers and you didn’t know if you could say goodbye just yet but realistically, you had to start making plans for when this would be over. 

Sitting with Wanda (and Bucky) at lunch had become a favourite thing of yours and you would miss this. You would also miss playing pranks on Bucky. It was Wanda’s Idea, really but you couldn’t help but go along with it.

You are sitting at lunch with Wanda eating a small salad when Bucky walks over and sits next to you, looking around confused when he notices that you are just sitting with a cup of coffee in front of you and a tiny Greek salad.

You cough to hide your laugh as Wanda starts talking to Bucky is trying to not look confused.

“No lunch today, James?” You can see the smirk Wanda is trying to hide behind her coffee as you speak.

“Oh… uh –“  

Wanda snorts as you reach and grab a boxed lunch that was hiding out of sight in the cold freezer bag next to your feet.  A huge smile appears on Bucky face as he grabs the food and opens it to eat it.

“JAMES!! You need to heat it up!! Don’t be disgusting.”

You roll your eyes as Bucky jumps up to heat the food up, your face scrunching up as he kisses your cheek. “You’re a peach, (Y/N).”

“What did I say about pet names.” You try to hide the slight red tint to your cheek by pushing him away and going back to your salad, which just makes Bucky laugh and move to heat his food up. You look over at Wanda and see that she is smirking at you. “What!” You snap for just her to hear.

“Nothing.” She replies, that knowing smirk still on her face.

-

Steve calls you that afternoon while you are out buying some groceries and practically demands you come over because he has something to tell you. Why that boy couldn’t just tell you on the phone was another thing, SO just to be annoying, you take your time to drop your groceries home and unpack them, taking the long way to get to Steves place. You laugh at the glare on his face as he opens the door.

“Took you long enough.”

“Calm down princess, I’m here now. Now what was so important that I get ordered here?”  Walking through his apartment, you go straight to his fridge and grab a bottle of water and a glass. You look around the apartment curiously, “Where’s James?” you say as you pour yourself a glass of water.

“Why do you care, are you too getting closer?” You glare at Steve as he takes a seat on chair next to the couch. This was becoming a very recurrent thing. Every time you saw Steve lately he would make fun of the fact you and Bucky were getting along. And to make it worse, he kept joking that the two of you are secretly hate dating. What the hell does ‘Hate Dating’ mean anyway?

“No… So why am I here?”

Who knew asking that question would have Steve launch into a 40 minute conversation about how he finally officially asked Sharon out and she said yes and now he had to think of a date idea and whatnot. For someone who was so attractive, he sure was clueless. And during this now hour long conversation about Sharon, Steve lets it slip that it has taken him at least 7 months to ask Sharon out.

“Whoa, It’s taken you 7 months? Dude, why didn’t you come to me sooner, I would have helped you out months ago!”

 “I am perfectly able to get a date on my thank you. What about you, huh! You haven’t been on a date since you got here and unless you call the weird ‘outings’ you have with Bucky a date.”

You cheeks go a bright shade of red, “I… WHAT. I HAVE NOT-“and throw a pillow at Steve who just dodges out of the way and grins at you.

“So when you two get married, do I get to be best man to both of you? Or will you both compete for my love.”

“Fuck off, Steve.”

“Just don’t do anything while I’m in the apartment.”

“Shut up, we are not.. We aren’t doing anything. I don’t- ”

“Just admit you’re attracted to him, you wouldn’t be this flustered if you weren’t. I promise I won’t make fun of you, for too long anyway.” Steve was looking at you with the biggest grin on his face. It was moments like this that made you regret moving back. Steve was less of a pain when you had 7 hours distance between the two of you

“Have you forgotten we hadn’t spoken in 6 years?”

“Well that was because you overreacted.” The look on your face at this comment had Steve laughing even harder. Its too bad looks can’t kill. “WHAT, I have been waiting years for you two to just hook up or something. It’s bound to happen.”

“Bullshit.”

You glare at Steve as he coughs to cover himself saying “Liar.”

You really feel like slapping that stupid smile off his face. That is when you get an idea. “Shut up Steve or I will tell Sharon all about 10th Grade.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Just watch me Stevie.” You take a sip of your water as you cock your eyebrow at him.

There is a moment of silence as you both glare at each other which of course is the moment Bucky comes home. Your eyes flit over to the door where Bucky stands, bag slung across his shoulders and T-shirt in his hand.

“Buck, why the hell are you not wearing a shirt? You left with a shirt on.” Steve smirks at Bucky who is currently sporting a light pink colour to his cheeks.

“… I got hot at the gym.”

“Way to be obvious, man.” The glare that Bucky shoots Steve confuses you but Steve couldn’t look any giddier. “Buck, sit down, I’m telling (Y/N) all about the party we are throwing.

Okay so lately you had been getting nervous around Bucky. But the two of you had been spending more time together. And as much as you hated to admit it, Steve was right on one point. You hadn’t dated in a while. That had to be it. It also didn’t help that Bucky was shirtless. And now sitting next to you. Asshole. “Would you put a shirt on!”

“Am I making you uncomfortable, doll.” Bucky said, his arm resting across the top of the couch.

“Fuck off.” Okay, that was unnecessary but you didn’t care. Steve was shooting you that stupid grin again and you were getting annoyed by the second.

“Would you two stop. You two need to help me plan a Halloween party.” You could tell by the

“Woah, hold up. I never agreed to help plan it, I just agreed to be here.”

“I don’t even live here, do I really have to help. And isn’t Halloween on Monday? You can’t have a party on Monday Steve, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“That’s why it is happening this weekend, you smartass.”

Cut to an hour later where Steve is laying out his grand plan to once again woo Sharon at this party, which had you bored to tears and you were kind of not listening to him. If there was one thing Steve was good at, it was his active imagination. And the fact that Bucky was moving around every 5 god damn seconds was just pissing you off and  he still refused to put a shirt on which made you pissed off even more. Why the fuck couldn’t he just put clothes on and move away from you.

God damn it, your body was starting to overheat slightly from how close he was sitting. With a huff, you shot up and leave, storming out of the room as fast as possible, heading straight over to the elevator and pressing the button. Leaning against the wall, you close your eyes and take a long, deep breath.

No. You are not attracted to Bucky. This can NOT be happening.

You hear your name being called and turn to see Bucky standing there still shirtless, carrying your bag.

“You forgot –“

“Thanks.” You say as you grab your bag and race into the now open elevator, leaving behind a very confused Bucky.

-

The next day at work you find out that there is a quick staff meeting. As you walk in, you notice that Bucky is already in the room, eating an apple loudly, you smack the apple out of his hand as you take a seat opposite him which just makes him pout like a child at you. What a dork.

You can feel Wanda smirking at the both of you. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Wat was it with people and doing that?! Half way through the meeting, your phone vibrates on the desk and you quickly look at it, revealing a text from Bucky.

_Morning Doll_

You roll your eyes and put your phone in your lap, only to have it vibrate again

_Ever notice how Peters nose twitches every time he starts a sentence._

You cough to hide your laugh and shoot a glare at Bucky as he just grins at you, quickly typing out a  response. Your phone vibrates again, you roll your eyes at his stupid message.

_You’re cute when you’re angry at me._

As you look up, you notice Wanda shaking her head at you and Bucky. It is after the meeting that Wanda seeks you out, you are gathering your things for the day ahead when she nudges you with her arm

“So…”

“Yes?” You look at her as you grab the last folder you need.

“You and Bucky look cosy.”              

“What. Why does everyone keep saying that?” Putting your bag over your shoulder, you start walking towards the main doors.

“I’m just saying your two are adorable.”

“We are not having this conversation.” Opening the door, you enter the corridor making your way towards your classroom, ignoring Wanda’s laughter as you glare at her. 

What really bugs you is the fact that Wanda is starting to get louder with her words, practically screaming out the next comment that has you storming away. “DON’T DENY IT!” 

You are unlocking your door when you hear the comment.

“What are you denying yourself?” Bucky says as he stands outside his adjoining door, leaning on the door facing you.

Your face goes bright red with embarrassment. Shit, what did he hear? “ Nothing.”

“Are you busy tonight?” You were hoping that the look on your face was answer enough, but unfortunately not. “Come help me pick a costume out for the party.”

Keeping the same look on your face, you continued to stay silent.

“Pleaseeeee.” Bucky pouted.

“If I go will you stop being a child?”

“Maybe.” Bucky’s face bore the tiniest hint of a smile.

“Ugh. Fine.” If there was one thing you had re discovered about Bucky was the fact that when he wanted something, he wouldn’t stop till he got it. It was an incredibly annoying trait of his.

The smile on his face was contagious and it took all the strength in you to not react to it. “See, this is why you’re my new favourite.” He moves and pulls  you slightly closer by the waist, kissing you on the cheek before retreating back into his classroom. “I’ll pick you up at 6.”


	9. Why are all the cheesy costumes the first to go?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween is an interesting time. Especially when it involves a kiss

The day seemed to speed by and before you knew it you were packing up for the day and out the main doors with Wanda, heading towards your cars. The sudden smile on Wanda’s face should have alerted you to the fact something was happening but you noticed too late when suddenly an arm was thrown around your shoulders.

“All ready for our date later, babe.” There stood Bucky, cocky smile on his face as he pulled you closer to him, your body colliding with him as you tried to get away. How he always managed to find you was a mystery and if only he would stop calling you those stupid pet names.

  
Pushing his arm off from around your shoulders, you shoved him slightly.   
Rolling your eyes you look to Wanda who is sporting the same smile she always is when she sees you and Bucky together. “It is not a fucking date, you perve. And what did I say about these god damn pet names?!!

His hands shoot to his heart as he dramatically sighs, pretending to be wounded. “How else am I going to simultaneously piss you off and make you mine?” Why did he have to say things like that? This is the type of shit that had BOTH Steve AND Wanda making comments every time you saw them and judging by the stupid smirk on Wanda’s face, she was thinking about it now.

“Get in your car, James.” You point to his car and glare at him, his stupid smile still on his stupid face as he walks over to his car, waving animatedly at you and Wanda.

The grip Wanda has on your arm is extremely painful; who knew someone that small could be that strong. “OH MY GOD.”

“Quiet you.” You replied, prying her fingers from around your arm.

“You HAVE to invite me to this party!!”

“Fine. I’ll text you the details. Now can I go home?” You roll your eyes as she starts giggling, ignoring Wanda’s response as you walk over to your car and get in, tooting your horn as you drive home.

A loud knock on your door startles you as you are quickly eating some leftover dinner from the night before. You look up from your food and to the clock on the wall and see that it is 5.30.

He’s early.

Sighing, you stand up and make your way to the door, looking back to your kitchen table where your food sits, getting colder by the minute. You sigh as you open the door, revealing Bucky standing there is a pair of well-fitting jeans and a red Henley, his hands in his pockets.

“You’re early.” You reply, your voice void of emotion.

Bucky smiles at your reaction “And hello to you too, Doll. You ready?”

“Ugh, fine.” Rolling your eyes, you reach over and grab your handbag and keys from the table near your door and exit your apartment, shooting one last look at your food before locking the door and walking out onto the street.

The ride over there is mostly peaceful; you only had to threaten to punch him 3 times this time which when compared to a month ago where you actually HAD to punch him 3 times, made this some kind of accomplishment.  Getting out of the car, you grab your handbag and walk towards the entrance, falling in line with Bucky as he discusses all the different types of costumes they have here and what kind of costume he wants, he moves ahead and opens the door for you, your face heating up as his hand rests on the small of your back as you step into the costume shop.

You had never seen a store like this before and oh my lord was it overwhelming. Sure, you had been to your generic costume store but this shop took costumes to a whole other level. Dozens of racks lined the store, each rack filled to the brim with costume options. How the hell were you supposed to pick just ONE costume for the man child here.

You are just about to turn to ask Bucky where he wanted to start when someone grabs your hand and you are pulled behind a rack. As you topple against his chest, you hear Bucky whisper. “Doll, we have a problem?”

“What? What wrong?”

“My ex is here.” If he didn’t look so helpless, you probably would have burst out laughing and you can tell he is expecting this because he doesn’t stop whining. “You don’t understand, she’s CRAZY. We only dated for a month and she was talking about marriage after 2 weeks!!”

“Stop being such a baby,” You swat at his arm and walk away chuckling as he crouch walks behind you, using you as a shield. “Now what costume do you want to look for?”

The two of you walk through the seemingly endless racks of costumes, Bucky choosing your pretty standard generic Halloween costumes. The firefighter, The cop, The mailman. Well the last one just kind of confused you because honestly, a mailman… Really?

“Is this some way for you to live out your porn obsession?” You didn’t mean to say it but it just came out, the costumes he picked were just so boring and typical. There were going to be at LEAST 4 cops at this party, did he really want to be another one of them

“What kind of porn are you watching?” Bucky says, laughing. “It’s not like that at all?!”

“Well I don’t exactly watch porn, okay.” You huff, distracting yourself by looking through the rack and picking a costume out for yourself.

You feel him before you hear him. “We can watch some together if you want.” Bucky whispers close to your ear, your face going bright red as he smirks and pulls the costume you just picked for yourself out of your hands. “You cannot wear this. It’s horrible.”

Snatching it back, you stomp over to the other side of the room. “Watch me!” Browsing the racks you find a costume you actually really love, you had your doubts if you could pull it off but it was a costume you always wanted but never had the guts to wear. You’re hiding it under another costume when you see Bucky shuffle over to you, carrying a Robin Hood costume in his hands. “James, no.”

“Why?”

“You have horrible taste in costumes, let me pick.” Grabbing his hand, you drag him over to the other side of the store and start searching for a certain costume. Bucky had horrible taste in costumes and you were just doing your duty as his friend to make sure he looked good at his party. There was no other reason behind it at all…

You are handing over one last costume to Bucky’s when you hear it.  

“Bucky? I thought that was you, you’re like just too cute to not notice!!” You turn at the voice and see the tall blonde walking towards you, her heels clicking against the concrete floor. Honestly, who the hell wears sky high heels at a job like this where you are standing all day. Didn’t her feet hurt?

His hand finds yours in an instant and squeezes it tight, you turn to shoot Bucky a look, his face filled with panic as she gets closer. “Oh god, please save me.” It was cruel of you but it was fun watching Bucky visibly panic. For a supposed ‘Ladies man’, he sure was awkward around his ex-hook ups. “Delilah, hey.. I didn’t know you worked here..”

“I just started.” Wow, she was practically making heart eyes at Bucky. He on the other hand kept moving you in front of him. “Can I help you with anything, Bucky? You know how I love to help.”

Biting your bottom lip to hide your laugh, you look to Bucky and raise an eyebrow, his hand still gripping yours. “Actually, my girlfriend (Y/N) and I are just looking at costumes.”

I’m sorry.. What?

Your face floods with heat as you look at Delilah.

“Oh.. okay.” If looks could kill. You would be 12 feet under with the way this girl is looking at you.

In the most pleasant tone you can muster, you squeeze Bucky’s hand as hard as you possibly can and smile at Delilah. “I don’t know about you, Bucky boo, but I really want a couples costume” You turn and smile sarcastically at Bucky who is biting his lip to stop from laughing”  You know, like that salt and pepper one we did at my birthday,” You giggle as Delilah glares at you. “We were so cute at my birthday party. Just like couples goals.”

“Anything for my favourite gal.” Bucky tries to kiss your lips but you move just in time and ‘accidently’ stomp on his foot, Bucky grunting in pain as you bat your eyelashes.

“I’m so sorry baby. Did I stomp on your foot?” Delilah looks like she wants to claw your face off so you do the only thing you think of. “You know Bucky. Just his little ol feet getting in the way. You know how he is, Delilah.” You smile innocently at Bucky who now has his own look of murder on his face. The complete silence from Delilah has you smiling wider. “Is it just this way to the change rooms?” you say, pointing to the very obvious sign that says ‘change room’.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Neato.” Shooting Delilah one last smile, you drag Bucky over to the change rooms where he bursts out laughing the second you are out of anyone’s sight.

“Fuck, did you see her face.”

“You sure know how to pick ‘em, James.” You walk into a change room and dump the costumes Bucky has to try on. “Now don’t say I don’t do anything for you.”

As you turn around, you notice Bucky standing near the door, that stupid smile plastered on his face again. “You don’t do anything for me.”

“Shut up and try the god damn costumes on.” Rolling your eyes you cough to hide your smile, moving out of the way to sit on one of the chairs available.

Bucky looks at you and smiles, whispering as he closes the door. “Oh, and Doll, don’t think I didn’t notice you finally calling me Bucky.”

Dumbass

In the amount of time it took Bucky to get his costume on, you had already played 4 rounds of solitaire on your phone. Hearing someone clear their throat, you look up to see Bucky standing there in a ‘fireman’s’ costume if you could even call it that, the costume was at LEAST a foot too long and the helmet was two sizes too small. And the axe he was carrying looked like it was going to snap in 2 the second it was put down.

You tried really hard not to laugh but of course you did, it was hard not too, especially seeing as he looked so stupid. And of course Bucky didn’t appreciate you laughing at him but after a few seconds, he started laughing too. “You look so stupid. NEXT.”

Shuffling back into the change room, Bucky tried on the next costume which just happens to be the Police Uniform. You would never tell him this but he actually looked really good in the cop costume. It fit him perfectly and you refused to let your face show how much you liked that costume when he stepped out, but something obviously slipped because Bucky walked over to you, his thumb brushing over your bottom lip. “You were drooling.”

“Fuck off,” you say, pushing him away. “Go try on the one I picked out!”

“You try yours on first!” With a smirk he pulls you up and pushes you into the change room next to his. You’re about to protest when he hands you your 3 costumes. Hanging them up, you look at them and cringe. Bloody hell, why had you chosen these. Grabbing the first outfit, you started to get changed, squeezing into the dress and putting on the wings. As you looked in the mirror you realised there was no way in hell you were going to wear this costume.

A knock on your door startles you. “Are you coming out?”

You continue to look at yourself in the mirror, awkwardly trying to pull the dress up to cover more of your cleavage and down to cover more of your thighs. This just wasn’t you… The costume was just too tight, too short. It was just too much. “No.”

“(Y/N), come on, let me have a look.” Bucky knocked again. You could see his feet underneath the door.

“This costume is too short.” You huff, trying to pull the dress down a bit more to no avail.

“Doll, nothing could be too short. Just let me see.” You huff and unlock the door, stepping out dressed as Tinkerbell, the green dress barely covering your chest and sitting quite high on your thighs as the wings sparkle against the bright lights of the change room.  Bucky however can’t stop smiling. “Now don’t you just look super cute.”

“Cute?? My boobs are practically popping out of this dress.”

“I don’t see a problem with this.”

“Fuck off.”  You stomp back into the change room, Bucky cackling with laugher outside the door. The next costume you try on was honestly just going to be a gag outfit, there was NO WAY you would EVER wear this one. Although Bucky’s reaction when you step out almost makes you reconsider. His jaw drops slightly when you open the door and reveal yourself wearing a French maid costume. “Why is everything so revealing. I look like I belong in a cheesy porn or something.” Your hands rest on your hips, the frilly skirt of the maid costume crinkling slightly under your touch as you turn and look at yourself in the mirror, your brow furrowing slightly.

“I’ll say it again, there is nothing wrong with porn (Y/N). Besides,” You hear and see Bucky clear his throat as he takes a step forward. “You look good.”

Colour rushes to your cheek as you go back into the change room and just as you are about to close the door, Bucky pushes his way into your change room, locking the door behind him.

“What the hell!”

“She’s out there! There is no way I am going anywhere near her, she’s fucking crazy.” You fold your arms across your chest and scowl at Bucky. How the hell was hiding in YOUR change room a solution to his stupid problem?

“That’s what you get for hooking up with random girls.” You lean your back against the wall, patiently waiting for Bucky to get the hell out of your change room so you can change..

“Jealous?”

“You wish, Barnes… Why the hell couldn’t you just have gone into your won change room, it’s right next door..”

“too scared to get changed in front of me, I don’t mind.” The look on his face has you slapping his arm, which just has him laughing at your awkwardness.

“See, for that comment, now you’re paying for my costume. Now get out.”

“What if she is out there?”  What a big baby. It’s just a girl.

“How many times do I have to save you, Barnes?” Rolling your eyes, you ruffle his hair and pull at his shirt, ignoring the shocked look on his face as you undo the top few buttons of his Henley. As you open the door, you wrap your arms around his middle and subtly push him out, right into Delilah. It was so perfect it was like it had been planned. “Oops sorry. I just couldn’t keep my hands off him.” You pinch Buckys side as he tries to escape back in to the change room. “Stay here, BABY. I’ll be done in a minute.” You quickly grab Buckys wallet from his pocket and smile innocently at him as you close the door on his shocked face, locking the door and quickly get dressed back into your clothes.

You take a moment to relax before grabbing the one costume you didn’t let him see on you and make your exit from the change room, Bucky awkwardly saying goodbye to his ex before chasing after you as you head straight to the register.

Hmm, you wonder what Buckys credit card limit is?

* * *

 

2 Hours. That’s how much notice Steve gives you before the party to get to his apartment and help him set up. Saying no is useless with Steve. He is like a lost puppy when he doesn’t get his way, so to save yourself the trouble of arguing with him because HE feels you are late; you quickly get changed into your costume and head straight over there. Should you have gotten dressed there? Probably. Did you think about that as an option as you were knocking on their front door? 100%

You knock on the door. No answer.

You bang on the door again, your hands going to your hips as you wait. It takes some time before the door finally opens. What the fuck could those 2 possibly be doing? Your hands drop from your hips as the door opens, Bucky eyes going wide as he opens the door, just staring at you.

“Holy shit.” You almost don’t hear him say it, Bucky’s comment coming out very quiet and mumbled.

Heat floods your face. “I don’t look that bad, do I?” You look down at your little red riding hood costume. Sure, the corset was uncomfortable and the skirt was puffy and short but you thought you had looked kind of cute. Your favourite part of the outfit was the thigh high socks with the cute red bows. You hated the shoes though. They were high and just annoying but they were the only shoes that matched the outfit.

“No – Ugh, come in.” shaking your head subtly, you walk into the apartment, holding back a laugh when you see the room decorated with cheesy plastic pumpkins and paper cut out bats stuck on almost every available wall space. Bucky nudges you with his shoulder “This isn’t even as bad as last year, that time he had fake skeletons everywhere.”

Holding in a laugh, you set your handbag down on the couch, turning around to see Steve shuffle into the lounge room carrying a box filled with liquor. Y/N)!! You look AMAZING! Very sexy, who are you trying to impress?!” Your face goes bright red as Steve smirks, dumping the box on the floor and pulling you into a hug, squeezing you tight. You almost don’t hear him, his voice very low next to your ear “I bet Buck agrees with Me.” before you have time to react, Steve has pulled away and immediately points to a box of fake spider web decorations. “Now get to work. Put that everywhere.”

“Yes Boss” With a mock salute in Steve’s direction, you get to work, kicking your heels off as you start pulling the white fake spider webs, your face scrunching up as you try to distract yourself by pulling it all apart. You can feel Bucky’s eyes glued to you as you take your time pulling your thigh high socks up, moving on to hang pumpkin garlands around the room.

You’re not quite sure why you like knowing that Bucky is watching you. It’s getting harder to remind yourself that you’re supposed to hate him when he looks at you like that. Shaking your head slightly, you get back to work hanging the last of the pumpkin garland. Hearing Steve pace back and forth in his room has you laughing, the party starts in an hour so of course he chooses now to change into his costume, it’s not like he was in the middle of preparing something. You walk into the kitchen area and finish making the dips that Steve abandoned when Bucky walks up to you and nudges your arm, turning to him he smiles and mumbles “You look pretty” quickly kissing your cheek before grabbing the packets of plastic cups next to you and walking away to set them up. Your eyes glued to him as he leaves, a faint blush spreading across your face as Steve walks out in his policeman costume. You shake your head as Steve walks over to you, a pair of sunglasses sitting on his face as he shoots you a big cocky grin.

“Seriously Steve?” Shaking your head, you clean up the mess you made, your eyes glancing at Bucky as he retreats into his room.

“Hey, this costume is great, okay.” You end up having nearly the same talk with Steve as you did Bucky about that type of costume. And in only a matter of minutes, you have Steve glaring at you as you keep his fake police badge out of reach. If there was one thing you were good at, it was annoying Steve Rogers.

You don’t notice Bucky coming back into the lounge room, but as he clears his throat, you notice he has come out in his costume; a vintage Army uniform. It’s the costume from the store the other day. It’s the costume you picked out for him. You wait while Steve claps Bucky on the back, joking about ‘How could Bucky have a better costume than he does” and what not. As Steve moves out of the way and rushes around doing last minute cleaning, you walk over to Bucky, a smile on your face.

“Nice costume.”

“What can I say, I had a nice shopping partner.” Taking the hat off, Bucky runs his hands through his messy hair. Rolling your eyes, you take his hand and pull him into the bathroom.

“Sit. Your hair looks like shit.”

With a grin, Bucky obediently sits in front of you, his legs opening slightly so you can move closer. His eyes watch you intently as you fix his hair, taking his hat and putting it back on his head. You are momentarily distracted by his tongue darting out, wetting his bottom lip as he watches you.

“(Y/N), I –“

“Now this tie is another problem. Stand so I can fix it.” Breaking eye contact, you move back as much as you can in this tiny bathroom and wait for Bucky to stand. You can feel his eyes on you as he moves over to you. It was stupid idea, but you actually find yourself taking your time as you fix Bucky’s tie, your fingers straitening the lapels on his jacket before looking up at him. The two of you are only a hairsbreadth away from each other, the gap closing by the second as the both of you seem to be gravitating towards each other. Your lips are so close to his when Steve screams out that guests have arrived. Jumping apart, you flee into the lounge room and grab a beer, eager to start drinking. Meanwhile, all you can think about is “What the hell was that?”

The apartment is filled with people in no time, the music is playing loudly in the corner with people drinking and having fun all around. You know practically no one so you have no problem hiding in the corner, and after what happened earlier, you wants to be as hidden away as possible where you could sip your beer and hope that Wanda turns up. You barely make it 20 minutes at the party before Bucky sees you hiding and walks over to you. You take this opportunity to really get a good look at him in his costume. Who were you kidding, he looked hot as hell. God, you never thought there would be a day where you would admit that you found James Barnes hot. Why had it become so hard to just hate him. It was so much easier when he wasn’t staring at you like he was earlier.

Your thoughts are interrupted as Bucky grabs your hand. “What are you doing in the corner, come sit with me. Please.” Tugging you closer to him, he pulls you over to where he, Sam , Clint and a bunch of other people have made a mini drinking area, filled with most of the liquor table and way too many shot glasses. You end up staying glued to Bucky most of the night, his hands always resting on some part of you, your knee, your thigh, around your waist, even his hand in yours. Your face showing a permanent blush across your cheeks that Sam was quick to pick up on, smirking at you as Bucky smiles at you every few seconds.

It’s just past 1 am when Clint suggests you all play Cards against Humanity. You gently tug on Bucky’s shirt, getting his attention, whispering to him you have never played before.” I’ll just sit out and watch you guys play.”

No sooner have the words left your lips then you are pulled against Bucky, your back against his chest as you half sit in his lap, his hand resting on your waist. “We can be a team.” You are trying to hide the blush on your face as Bucky keeps talking “(Y/N) and I are going to be a team.” Your face changing into a darker shade of red as Bucky leans close to your ear, explaining the r ules to you as Clint sets up the deck.

The look of shock on everyone’s faces as they see the cards you (and Bucky) have chosen each round has made your night. Why people think you are this sweet, innocent thing is beyond you but it’s fun to tease them.

By the last round, you have Bucky’s hat on your head, his jacket around your shoulders and Clint has stolen your cape for some strange reason. Everyone starts leaving at around 3 am but you are alert as hell. After Bucky wishes the last person goodbye, Steve and Sharon leaving a while ago claiming to be ‘going for a walk’, he walks over to you where you are cleaning up all the empty cups and takes your hand, his fingers linking with yours for a moment.

“Stay. Watch a movie with me or something.”

Your heart is beating out of your chest. You really don’t want to leave. “Sure.”

You smile in reply as you both awkwardly stand in the middle of the room in silence; clearing your throat, you ask if you can borrow some of his clothes. Your outfit while cute and adorable, doesn’t exactly cover much of your skin.

With a shake of his head, Bucky disappears into his room to grab some clothes, he comes back out carrying his red Henley from earlier in the week and a pair of sweatpants. You take them and thank him, shuffling off to the bathroom to get changed. The pants are way too big despite your hardest efforts to make them fit. His shirt actually ends up being longer than the skirt you were originally wearing so you decide to just walk out in that.

As you walk out of the bathroom, you can hear shuffling going around in Bucky’s room. You quietly make your way to his room and lean against the doorframe.

“So this is the notorious bedroom of James Buchanan Barnes.”

“Hardy har har.” As Bucky turns around, his jaw drops slightly as he sees you standing in the doorway. Rolling your eyes, you walk in and sit on his bed, grabbing a packet of lollies that he has set out along with more alcohol and food.. “It’s messy out the front so I thought.”

You chuckle and pop one of the lollies in your mouth. “So what are we watching?”

Of course Bucky chooses Paranormal Activity. The one movie you hate with a passion. And you didn’t mean to complain about the movie but every time something happens, you break off into a lecture about what they could have done better \ commentary on why that was stupid and you so weren’t scared. It is not scary. You jumping and biting your thumb had nothing to do with how scary some bits were, it had to do with all the sugar you were eating. Bucky pauses the movie and laughs at you. “Are you going to continue with the commentary?”

“Yes.”

“Stop biting your thumb.”

Bucky pulls your thumb from your teeth and holds your hand in his. It could be the alcohol but you and Bucky had spent a lot of this night holding hands. The two of you don’t even end up finishing the movie. A) Because Bucky got sick of your complaining that he switched it off and B) The two of you were just having fun talking to each other. It is that kind of talk that is about nothing and everything at the same time. Those talks that last forever but seem to not last long enough.

And if that wasn’t enough, the two of you start playing Truth or Dare. You dared Bucky to shotgun a whole bottle of Coke and Bucky dared you to shove as many candies as you could in your mouth. It’s when you started answering ‘Truth” that things got interesting.

“So when was your last date?” You ask, taking a sip of your now warm beer.

  
“About three months ago.” You watch the way Bucky fiddles with his pillow, not really looking you in the eye.

  
“Why?”

  
With a scoff, Bucky replies “What do you mean why?”

  
Fidgeting slightly, you look at him as if the answer is obvious “Well Steve made it seem like you’re always dating. And you’re hot so I don’t understand why you haven’t got someone. Especially if they are all catches like that one in the costume shop.”

Bucky grins. “So you think I’m hot?”

  
You let out a small smile and curl up more on Bucky’s bed, clutching one if his pillows to your chest. “You know you’re good looking, James. That’s always been the problem.”

An awkward silence settles over the two of you. What can you say after you admit that you find your kind of friend (who used to be your enemy but isn’t really anymore because he is actually kind of sweet and caring and is still a total asshole but it’s that kind of asshole attitude you like) attractive?

  
“Well I haven’t really felt like it lately… What about you. Got your eye on anyone?” The look in Bucky’s eyes tells you he really wants to know the answer. So you tell him. In a not so simple way.

“I don’t know.. Maybe.” Looking for a distraction, you stuff more food into your mouth.

“You owe me like 20 questions now.”

  
“You’re such a dork.” You shove him playfully as you laugh. “Okay, next question!”

The sun is shining bright on your face which is incredibly annoying, your face scrunches up as you snuggle deeper into the bed. You reach down to pull your blanket over your head but there is no blanket there. Where the hell is your blanket? Opening your eyes, you look around to see the thing you are snuggling into isn’t your bed, or really a bed at all. It’s Bucky. Well more importantly, Bucky’s chest. One of his arms is pressing against your lower back, his skin burning a hand print against your exposed skin where the shirt you were wearing has ridden up. Stirring slightly, you try to move out of his embrace which causes him to wake up, pulling you closer to him.

With a yawn, Bucky mumbles incoherently “Morning.”

“Hi.” Hopefully he hasn’t notice that his hand is inches away from your ass As Bucky’s hand moves away from you as he stretches, you take that as an opportunity to roll onto your back and move slightly away from him… Your heart pounds wildly in your chest. Holy shit, you literally woke up ON Bucky. This isn’t the type of thing that was helping your feelings towards him. “What time is it?” you say, tugging the shirt you’re wearing down to cover more skin.

Bucky looks around and groans. “It’s only 8 am. Why the hell are we awake?” Bucky still half asleep, moves over and pulls you back to him, spooning you as he holds you close. Not knowing how to react to being so close to Bucky, you are horrified by the involuntary squeak you make as your body nestles against his.

Bucky blinks at you, squeezing your sides “Did you actually just squeak at me.”

Fuck. “No. Shut up.” Oh god, how embarrassing.

“Holy fuck you’re adorable.”

You blush, your face and neck going a deep shade of red that almost matches the shirt you are wearing. “I said shut up-“

“Loser.”

“Fuck off.”

Bucky grins and spoons you again, his face nuzzling your neck as your heart races in your chest. You feel him exhale before pressing a soft kiss to your neck, a shiver running down your spine as you bite your lip and turn to look at him, elbowing him in the chest slightly as he tries to tickle you.

“Watch yourself Barnes”

Bucky laughs. “How else am I supposed to get the kiss you owe me?”

You roll your eyes as you move out of Bucky’s embrace and get out of bed, snorting at the pout on Bucky’s face “What is with you and getting me to kiss you?” You spin around and place your hand on your hip. “Am I your new conquest, James?”

Bucky shrugs and puts his hands behind his head, shifting on the bed, his eyes glued to you as you move around his room looking for your other shoe. “Maybe I just want to kiss you.”

“U-huh and pigs fly.” Sitting at the edge of the bed, you start to put your shoes back on, distracting yourself from the sudden heat that has spread across your face. “Well, it’s time for me to go home.” Standing you grab your bag and costume and put it over your forearm. You really needed to get out of here before you did something stupid, like sleep with him.

“What, why?” Bucky says, practically jumping out of bed and moving over to you, his hand wrapping around your wrist as he tries to tug you back to his bed.

“Now be a gentleman and walk me to the door.” He bumps your shoulder as he walks you through the apartment, opening the door for you.

“So I will see you at work on Monday?”

With a nod you turn to leave, making it a few steps from the door before pausing for a moment, a look of confusion on Bucky’s face as you move back to him. You really hope you don’t regret this. “Don’t say I don’t do anything for you.”

“What are you-? “ You break off his sentence with a quick chaste kiss to his lips, a smile on your face as you pull away. Yeah, okay, you actually did that. There is no turning back now.

“See you on Monday Mr Barnes” And with that you turn and leave, heat flooding your face as a shocked Bucky stays standing in the doorway watching you leave.


	10. You're such a liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will the kiss change the way the reader see's Bucky. Or will something else come between them?

If there was one thing you could pride yourself on, it was the fact that you were always on time. You were always at least 30 minutes early to work, parties or get togethers. You were a punctual person by nature and always prepared for anything thrown your way. Monday was not one of these days. You woke up late (well late for you) Monday morning after only 4 hours of sleep. It had been a long weekend and you spent most of it trying to distract yourself to some success, except when it came time for you to sleep. A lot of things were replaying through your mind.

Looking at your clock, you saw that you had exactly 10 minutes to have a shower, get changed and drive the 20 minutes to work. Fuck. You were never late. Jumping out of bed, you ran straight into your bathroom and had the quickest shower you had ever had in your life, brushing your teeth in the shower as you tried to not get your hair wet. As you made your way out, you quickly got changed into the first thing you could find, a dress that was probably widely inappropriate but honestly who cared at this point, you quickly grabbed your makeup case and handbag and ran out the door, before turning back around and grabbing a pair of shoes.

Shoes help.

You made it to work just in time, clocking in just as the first warning bell of the day rings. You smile and wave to a few of the students as you made your way to your classroom. Today was just going to be one of those days. Those types of days where it just seems to drag on, and nothing is really accomplished because nothing goes right. Fuck those days.

The morning dragged on and lunch couldn’t come around faster. The bell rang to a chorus of relieved sighs from the students. Looks like they weren’t having a good day either. After the students left for their break, you quickly grabbed your bag and made your way towards the staff room, your stomach had been grumbling all through class. You were amazed that no one else had heard it, it sounded like two bears were having a fight in there. You were just about to round the corner when you hear your name being called, turning around, you see Bucky making his way over to you. You haven’t spoken to him or seen him since the party, since you left him at his door.

Why were you nervous, It was only Bucky.

You lean against the wall and fidget nervously with your bag. Tucking some hair behind your ear, you wait for Bucky to make his way over to you.

“Y/N.” Bucky stands in front of you, his hands in his pocket as he watches you with a small smile on his face.

“James.” Your face reddens slightly as you watch him watching you. God this was strange.

The silence that follows is extremely awkward. What were you supposed to say? Oh hey man, hope you don’t find it weird that I kind of kissed you randomly before I left Sunday morning and I hope you don’t find it weird but I kind of liked it but I don’t want to admit that because I’m supposed to hate you. . I’m starving, let’s eat.

Yeah, no. That was definitely not going to happen.

Just as you are about to open your mouth, Wanda strolls over, a small smirk on her face when she sees the two of you together.

“Let’s go eat, guys. You can tell me all about the party!!” Linking her arm with yours, the three of you make your way to the staff room. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it. But I’m dying to know what happened?”

You can feel Bucky’s eyes on you as you stay silent. “I don’t know about (Y/N) but I had an incredible time at the party.”  

Your eyes shoot to Bucky as he looks at you with an unreadable expression, heat flooding your cheeks as your mind replays the night by Bucky’s side.  You can also feel Wanda looking between the two of you, a knowing smirk on her face.

You are just about to answer when you hear someone clear their throat. Turning around, you see Peter your boss trying to get your attention. “Can I have a word with you, (Y/N)?”

“Sure.” Excusing yourself, you leave Bucky and Wanda and follow Peter into his office. Even though you were a teacher, being called into the principal’s office always had you nervous. It was like the threat from being a student in trouble carries through to adulthood. It’s not like you could get a detention, but you could be fired.

Peter takes a seat and motions for you to do the same. “Sorry to interrupt your lunch, I just want to have a word with you about something.”

Oh god, they know. They know you kissed Bucky. How could they possibly know? You hadn’t told anyone. Maybe there was a rule against staff relationships. NOT THAT YOU WERE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH BUCKY. What the hell is wrong with you, you don’t like Bucky like that. The two of you are barely friends… Right.

“(Y/N). Are you okay? You look lost.” Peter says, a concerned look on his face.

“Am I in trouble? Have I done something wrong?”

Has a student complained? Maybe a parent or fellow teacher?

“Not at all, I actually have some news for you.”

You sat that with a look of shock on your face. Another school wanted to interview you for a permanent role on their faculty. And to top it all off, it was for an immediate start. As in, if you decided to take the job, you would start next Monday.

But there was more. Peter let you know that he had been talking to other  school officials and they are looking into hiring you on their staff for next term. As a full time teacher to the class you are temping for. The teacher you were covering for has given her notice for retirement and the school want to keep you. That is if you wanted to stay.

This is crazy. You had two schools after you? How does this happen?!!

The choice was up to you. Take a full time position now with better pay and benefits or stay and suffer a few more weeks of shit money to then become a permanent teacher and be offered job security. The position has been kept secret so no one is to know that it is hopefully in the works. So you couldn’t even tell anyone what you thinking of choosing.

What the hell were you going to choose?

Running your hands through your hair, you thanked Peter and told him you would think about it, and get back to him as soon as possible.

Quietly slipping out of the office, you head back to the staff room, your mind going a mile a minute thinking about what just happened. An interview at another school, or a possible permanent job here which meant you could stay here with your students. With Wanda. With Bucky…

Shaking your head slightly, you made your way over to a table and sat down, food being the last thing on your mind.  You jump slightly when Wanda sits down next to you, dropping her salad bowl down on to the table with a loud bang.  
“So what the hell happened at the party that has Bucky watching your every move like a lost puppy? You better not be hiding anything from me. You know I love details!” The look on her face tells you she means business, it is one of those looks that makes it seem like she can see right through you, like she could read your mind and can tell that you are keeping a secret from her. There was no way you were going to tell her that you kissed Bucky. It wasn’t like it was a real kiss. It was for a dare… Sure it was a few hours later but does that really matter?   It’s not like your heart sped up as you walked away from him, or pounded through your chest when he looks at you the way he is right now.

You must have blanked for a second because the next minute, Wanda’s hand is  on yours pulling you out of your trance. “Are you okay, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

You shake your head and smile. “Yeah, I’m great. I’ve kind of been offered a job at another school. I just have to go for an interview-“

“What the hell? Why would you leave?” Bucky interrupts, his brows furrowed as he looks at you.

“I haven’t said yes yet, god! I just got told. But it’s a great opportunity.” You looked at him confused. What the hell is wrong with him?

“That’s amazing, (Y/N)!!” Wanda smiled in excitement, trying to take the attention away from Bucky who was just pacing back and forth.

“At least Wanda is happy for me.” You mutter, shooting a death stare at Bucky. It’s amazing how he could ruin your mood in a matter of seconds. To think you actually thought things would be different after the party.

“Why the hell would I be happy about this?” Bucky grumbled, scraping the chair loudly across the floor and sitting down with a thud.

“Go fuck yourself, James.” You hissed. Storming out of the staffroom, you walk towards your classroom. You can hear Bucky running after you, calling your name. You just make it into the room when a hand grips your arm and spins you around.

“Why are you running from this, from me?” The look on Bucky’s face confuses you. Why the hell was he so upset over this? And fuck him. You aren’t running from anything. Especially him.

“I’m not running from anything. It’s a job offer. I haven’t even said yes to the interview yet. Why are you getting so pissy at me for taking a new job?” You rip your arm out of his grasp and glare at him. “And why the fuck do you care?”

“I don’t care.”

You feel your heart drop. Fine, if wants to be like that then so will you. “I never pegged you for a liar, James.”

“I’m just worried that… Your students have gotten attached and they will be crushed if you leave.” You could tell he was lying.

“That’s bullshit and we both know it. Tell me the real reason.” With a huff, you cross your arms across your chest and glare at Bucky.  

“There is no reason.” Bucky growled

“Really,” you scoff at him and roll your eyes. “So you don’t care at all if I left, you’re just concerned about the students?”

“Nope.”

“Get over yourself James, stop acting like a jealous boyfriend.” You hiss and slam the classroom door in his face.

If he wasn’t going to admit to whatever was going on then you weren’t either.  You didn’t care anyway.

At least that is what you told yourself.


	11. Bangable is not an acceptable term

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interesting developments occur when Bucky tries to help the reader with her problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been so long. But here is Part 11. There will probably only be one more but to go.  
>  If you want updates or to ask me questions, remember to follow and message me on Tumblr. My account name is verycoolveryunique  
> I hope you guys like it <3

Job interviews are actually the bane of your existence. How does answering a series of predictable questions show your work ethic and prove to the potential employer that you are the best person for the job?

And why the hell did you insist on being interviewed for this job, honestly!  Are you insane? Have you actually gone off the deep end?!

Your potential new boss Peggy looked at you with a smile on her face, it was a look that scared you and comforted you at the same time. With an exhale, you continued on with the interview. From what Peggy had explained about the position was that this class is the outcome of an influx of new students and no space in other classrooms. Basically you had a whole new class to teach if you accepted the position. And the pay was about double what you are making now.

Your heart was definitely torn. This was the kind of position that you have dreamed of, not many out of college students get the opportunity to have; let alone be offered a full time position this soon. And if you take the position, all you have to do make arrangements with the school you are at and then you can start Monday.

With a smile, you shake hands with Peggy and make your leave. Your decision had been made. Now it was time to let everyone know.

As you made your way to your car, you texted Steve telling him about the decision that you made. There was no going back now.

You hovered over Bucky’s name. You hated that you wanted to call him. You hated that you wanted to tell him your exciting news but the last conversation the two of you had flashes by in your memories.

_“_ _why the fuck do you care?”_

_“I don’t care.”_

_You feel your heart drop. Fine, if wants to be like that then so will you. “I never pegged you for a liar, James.”_

_“I’m just worried that… Your students have gotten attached and they will be crushed if you leave.” You could tell he was lying._

_“That’s bullshit and we both know it. Tell me the real reason.” With a huff, you cross your arms across your chest and glare at Bucky._

_“There is no reason.” Bucky growled_

_“Really,” you scoff at him and roll your eyes. “So you don’t care at all if I left, you’re just concerned about the students?”_

_“Nope.”_

_“Get over yourself James, stop acting like a jealous boyfriend.”_

 Exhaling, you put your phone back in your handbag and get into your car. No. You couldn’t call him. You wouldn’t. You refused.

Yes, it may be childish and you could possibly be falling back into your old habit of over reacting but you had a reason for it. At least you made yourself believe you did. Turning the radio all the way up in your car, you drove home, your thumbs drumming against the steering wheel as your mind raced. What were you going to say to your boss. Well, your ex- boss.

On a whim, you turn your car around and drive towards the school. You had to see if Peter was there. So you could explain why you chose this new job, it couldn’t wait till tomorrow.  You didn’t want him to hate you but there was NO WAY you could have declined this job. Sure, he  said that there could be a permanent job on his faculty eventually but you couldn’t risk your career on a maybe. How could you turn down a permanent job with a pay raise for a job that could or could not happen for a few more weeks. Hell. It could be a few months. Your bank account really couldn’t wait and your bills needed to be paid and Peggy sold the job really well to you, she made it impossible to turn it down. And besides, they hadn’t approached you with a permanent contract. Peggy had.

Tugging nervously on the sleave of your dress, you knock gently on Peter’s door.

This was it.

Peter looked up with surprise as you stood in the door way. “(Y/N), come in. ­­­­ How did the interview go?” PHe stands and ushers you in, motioning for you to sit down on the plush seat opposite his desk.

Sitting down, you take a deep breath and explain to Peter what has happened.  You can’t fault him one bit, he is understanding and happy for you. You are the one that feels horrible for leaving so quickly but you were excited for this new position. After what feels like forever, the two of you have made a plan for your remaining week so you can start your new position on Monday.

With a sense of relief, you make your way out of the office. It is just your luck that just as you are making your way towards the parking lot, you spot Bucky with his head down walking in the same direction as you. Unable to hide, you keep looking forward as he looks up, stumbling slightly and coming to a halt as he sees you.

Both of you were now just standing in the middle of the car park just staring at each other. How embarrassing, two grown adults just blatantly staring at each other because one is a perfect lady and the other is a big douche lord that needs to stop being a jerk face.  Breaking eye contact, you pull the strap of your handbag buck onto your shoulder and speed walked straight to your car, leaving Bucky in the parking lot alone, watching your grow smaller in the distance as you drive away.

* * *

Your last week at work was a sad one. You spent your remaining days saying goodbye to the students and your fellow colleagues.  The last few months had been great ones and your time here was something that you would always remember.

That afternoon, you meet with Wanda for a coffee and snack after she finished work. Walking into the coffee shop, you spot Wanda and walk straight over to her and take a seat. She is definitely one that you would miss. It was nice to just sit and kind of say goodbye to one of the only people you have grown super close with these past few months. Before you know it, an hour has passed and the two of you are on your 3rd muffin. But just as you are about to stuff an enormous piece of muffin into your mouth, you feel someone brush up behind you and snort. You look up to see Steve standing there with a smile on his face.

“Hello honey bunch.”  Your face scrunches up as Steve laughs and pats you on the head. Rolling your eyes, you swat his hand away and introduce him to Wanda who just seems to have frozen in her seat, her eyes glued to Steve. It’s only Bucky’s snort that breaks her from her trance.  His eyes go straight to you as you gulp down a large amount of your coffee.

Hearing someone clear their throat, you look up again to find Bucky’s eyes glued to you.

“(Y/N)” His eyes go briefly to Wanda where he mumbles a hello with a smile.

“James.”

Wanda and Steve both look between you and Bucky. Wanda is smirking at the obvious tension between the two of you while Steve is trying to force Bucky to speak more. If there was one big cheerleader for a possible Bucky/(Y/N) friendship/relationship, it was the big puppy of a man Steve. He was probably secretly holding out for a joined marriage between him and Sharon, and you and Bucky .

After an uncomfortable silence in which Wanda is kicking you under the table with her foot, Steve decides to speak up and save the conversation. (Or lack thereof of conversation.) “Okay, as thrilling as this is, Buck and I better go pick up our order and head back.” He shoots a killer smile at Wanda who seems momentarily stunned by that killer watt smile, and leans down to kiss your cheek. “Let’s have dinner tomorrow, you can tell me more about the new job.”

You watch as he pulls Bucky away. Your thoughts interrupted by Wanda who grabs your hand to get your attention “Why are all the males you know drop dead gorgeous and holy shit can I have one?”

Your face scrunches up as Wanda just stares at Steve’s Butt. “Can you stop!! Steve is practically my brother.” Laughing, you throw your napkin at Wanda as she goes on and on about how cute Steve is.  It’s not like you don’t know Steve isn’t hot, but he is like a brother, so watching your friend check him out is STRANGE to say the least.

“What about Bucky then?” You glare at Wanda as she grins and takes a sip of her coffee. “Is he like your brother or is he more like your super sexy friend that you hold hands with secretly should totally bang.”

Snorting, you roll your eyes and eat your piece of muffin. “Really Wanda. ‘Bang’. Who says that?”

“What, Bucky is very bangable. And you didn’t say you wouldn’t do it so –“

“MOVING ON, WANDA.” You gulp down the rest of your coffee and sigh.

“You can’t deny the fact the two of you would make a cute couple and have cute sarcastic babies.”

“Eat your food Wanda.” You roll your eyes and shuffle in your seat, peeking over your shoulder to the counter where you make eye contact with Bucky. His gaze is locked on yours as Steve hands him his coffee. He shoots you a small smile but this goes unnoticed as you turn back around, focussing on Wanda once again. You will never admit that your chest clenches slightly when you hear the jingle of the front door going off, signalling someone has left.

Walking up the steps to your apartment, you fish around in your bag for your keys. Where the hell are they? As you step onto your floor, you see Bucky sitting on the floor, leaning against your door with his head tilted down towards the ground.

Your steps falter as he looks up at you, startled by your footsteps. Standing up, you watch as he runs his hands through his already messy hair, making it even more unruly than it already was.

“Can we talk?”

Falling into step beside him, you look through your bag again for your keys as you answer him. “No”

“(Y/N, come on, I’m trying to make things right here. When are you going to forgive me and talk to me again?”

Ignoring him, you start pulling things out of your bag before you realise your keys aren’t in your bag, you left them in your apartment on your bed when you changed handbags at the last minute.

You feel Bucky take a step closer to you. “What’s wrong?”

Sighing, you turn to him. “I left my keys in the apartment on my bed.” It actually astonishes you when he snorts at you. 10 seconds ago, he is trying to beg for your forgiveness and now this asshole is laughing at you.

“Well that was stupid.”

Glaring at him, you try to jiggle the door knob. “Fuck off James, I am not in the mood.”

“At least let me help.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“You’re stuck outside your apartment, of course you need help.” With a role of his eyes, Bucky leans against the door and folds his arms.  “Where is your bedroom window?”

“What has that got to do with anything?”

“Stop being a pain and show me your window.”

With a huff, you storm downstairs and head outside, walking around to the corner of the building and pointing out your bedroom window to the most annoying person you have ever met. As you turn to tell Bucky, you are distracted by him unbuttoning his shirt, your eyes glued to his chest as he tosses it aside and walks over to the side of the building, hoisting himself up your neighbours balcony fence.

Your eyes go wild as you see him steady himself on the edge of the fence. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Climbing, obviously.” Thank god you lived on the second floor and not any higher. You did not want to be blamed for his death. If he did end up hurting himself, you would just feign ignorance and blame him for his own stupid actions.

You watch in horror as Bucky jumps up to grab hold of your balcony fence. You see him look over his shoulder just in time to see you roll your eyes at his actions. What is it with men and them trying to show off how ‘macho’ they can be. And did he really need to do this shirtless?  No one wants to see that.

Hearing Bucky laugh at you just pisses you off, even more so when you notice he has made it up to your balcony and is opening your bedroom window to climb into.

Quickly grabbing Bucky’s shirt (Which he took off just to show off, the asshole.) you make your back up to your apartment where Bucky is standing in your doorway, your keys twirling around his hands as he smiles at you smugly.

Pushing his shirt against his chest, you snatch your keys from his grip and stomp into your apartment, your bag dropping onto the kitchen counter.

You can hear Bucky shuffling around in the background, probably putting his shirt back on. “You’re welcome.”

Taking your phone out of your bag, you plug it in to the charger on the counter. “You can leave now.”

“Nope.” Shooting a glare at him, you sigh as Bucky goes straight to your couch and sits down, his fingers drumming along the arm of the couch as he looks over at you.

“Why are you here James?”

You can feel the atmosphere in the room change. It went from you being annoyed at him to this. This cluster of weird emotions, long silences and awkward glances.

“Why did you tell Steve about the job and not me?

Looking for a distraction, you pull a water bottle out of your fridge and walk around your kitchen area. “It was none of your business and lets be real, James. You don’t care.”

And the atmosphere changed again within an instant. You knew that the second those words left your lips that he would be up and ready to fight again. And you knew he cared in his own weird way. The two of you had become close since moving back. It was just that you were still figuring out things, especially things with him.

“Are you serious?” Bucky jumps up and walks over to you, his gaze locking you in place.  “After what happened at the party?  After what’s been going on between us these past few weeks,” he motions between the two of you as he stands in front of you. “None of that is my business? We kissed, Y/n.”

You swallow hard at his words. You open your water bottle and take a large drink of water, the bottle crumpling slightly in your grip to distract you from this awkward conversation that was taking place.  “You dared me to do it-“

“Stop trying to deny this! You kissed me AFTER the game was over. It wasn’t a fucking dare!”

You can’t look into him in the eyes. This was NOT a conversation you wanted to have. This conversation was supposed to never happen.  “It was just a dare, James-“

“Fucking hell, you infuriate me so much.” Running his hands through his hair, Bucky paces back and forth as you stand there stuck. Waiting for your heart to stop pounding through your chest “Why the fuck am I still in love with you?”


	12. I won't say I'm in love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth has been told. What happens now that reader knows the truth about Bucky's feelings?

**_Previously on No, It’s Bucky_ **

**_“Stop trying to deny this! You kissed me AFTER the game was over. It wasn’t a fucking dare!”_ **

**_You can’t look into him in the eyes. This was NOT a conversation you wanted to have. This conversation was supposed to never happen.  “It was just a dare, James-“_ **

**_“Fucking hell, you infuriate me so much.” Running his hands through his hair, Bucky paces back and forth as you stand there stuck. Waiting for your heart to stop pounding through your chest “Why the fuck am I still in love with you?”_ **

 

Have you ever had one of those moments where time stops? Where everything around you either disappears or goes completely silent. When the only thing you can hear is the beat of your heart thumping through your chest and a high-pitched sound is ringing in your ears.  
No?

Just me? Okay.

Bucky stood frozen in his spot, silently cursing himself for letting the one thing he was supposed to keep a secret get out.

_Why the fuck am I still in love with you?_

_In love with you_

_LOVE WITH YOU_

You weren’t too sure if Bucky was even talking as you suddenly couldn’t hear a thing, your mind going blank as Bucky stands in front of you, his face white as a sheet.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” You whisper, your voice cracking slightly at his confession. Looking up, you catch Bucky’s eyes. He has stayed silent this entire time which makes you even more nervous to hear his response. “James – “

“Like a sister …”

Okay, you weren’t expecting that to be his response. “A sister?” Wait what? “ … Are you kidding me right now? What the hell happened to ‘It wasn’t a dare’?” You exhale loudly and cross your arms in front of you. Bucky was really pissing you off for some reason. “Stop changing your story!”

“That’s rich coming from you. Just forget it, (Y/N). Forget I said a damn thing.” And with those final words, Bucky storms out of your apartment, slamming the door behind him.

With a huff, you pick up one of the fluffy cushions on your sofa and throw it at your closed door, screaming out in frustration after Bucky.  Who does he think he is? Storming into your apartment, saying that… stuff. And then he just does a total 180 and then leaves, slamming your door like he has the right!

The dick.

 

You barely sleep a wink that night, tossing and turning until the very early hours of the morning. Your brain replaying the events earlier over and over and over again. It’s around 4 am when your brain finally gives you some relief and lets you doze off in an uncomfortable slumber. Sleep is a high priority for you, so losing even an hour puts you in a bad mood, how will losing most the night make you feel?

The incessant vibrating of your phone wakes you up from your sleep, groaning loudly, you roll over in your bed and feel around for your phone on your bedside table. Opening your eyes slightly, you hit ignore on whoever is calling you and throw your phone to the other side of the room. It was the weekend, sleeping in as much as possible is a requirement and a necessity.

Waking up again mid-afternoon isn’t as great as it seems to be. Your head feels like you have a tonne of bricks on the top of it and your eyes itch like crazy. It’s like a hangover without the fun of alcohol.

After a long struggle of getting out of bed, into the shower and back out again to get in some fluffy comfortable clothes, you grab your laptop off the dresser and make your way back into bed, this is the perfect excuse to spend time just searching up weird stuff. Why yes Buzzfeed, I do want to know what my shoes tell me about my personality and why I need 4 ceramic bowls that have different puppies painted onto them.

Skype eventually pings you with an alert that two of your college friends are online for your weekly skype catch up. When all that stuff happened, you completely forgot about it. Some friend you are.

Opening up the invite, you see your two friends smiling back at you.

You met Ari and Klarysa during your first year of college and have been friends ever since. The three of you live all over the country, so you always have to make sure to catch up with each other and see how each other are doing. It’s not like you can see them as easily as Steve or Buc-.

The three of you catch up, talking about anything and everything before they both notice you’re not really as engaged as usual.

Rolling your eyes, you tell your friends what happened yesterday. Nothing is a secret between the three of you and they don’t know Bucky so you can complain about him as much as possible.

“So, he tells you he loves you and then runs away?” Ari says, cocking an eyebrow at you.

“Is he hot?” The blonde says, wiggling her eyebrows up and down

“So not the point, Klarysa!! You huff, your hands folding in front of you.

“Well you didn’t say no, so obviously you think he is hot!” Klarysa giggles

“(Y/N) has a crush on a boooooooooy.” Ari and Klarysa both start laughing at you. What is this? Tease (Y/N) time?

Your face flushes red as you duck your head out of frame. “I do not! You two are the worst.”

“You love us, (Y/N). So when are you and James getting married?” Ari replies, causing Klarysa to laugh more.

The two girls laugh harder at you as you try to make up an excuse. “It’s not like that, guys. We… I … I CAN’T like him. I refuse to let myself. Do you even realise how much shit I would get off Steve if I liked James? WHICH I DON’T!”

“Riiiight, and pigs fly. Wait, is James that brunette hottie from those prom pics that Steve showed us. What was his name…. Bucky?”

“…No.”

You wince as both girls scream out “OH MY GOD.”

You are about to respond when a head pops into your bedroom, scaring the life out of you.

“STEVE, WHAT THE HELL. How did you get in here?”

Steve walks over and shucks his jacket off, going over to join you in your bed. “Keys, remember.” Looking at the screen, he waves and smiles at Klarysa and Ari. “And hello you two, long time no speak.”

“Hey Stevie.” The girls reply, both failing to hide their shit eating grins.

“Say Steve, What can you tell me about J-“

You interrupt Ari with a loud NO, causing them both to start giggling again. “I’ll talk to you guys later.” Before giving them a chance to reply, you end the skype call and close your laptop. You loved those two but HONESTLY.

“That was interesting.” Steve replies, pulling most of the blanket off you and on to himself.

“Why are you here?” Fighting to pull the blanket back over you, you sigh and give up the battle. Steve is a big guy and this is one fight you won’t win.

“Well I tried calling you but you didn’t answer. I wanted to check up on you. See how you were doing.”

“… Why.” You could feel your heart clench with dread. Oh no. Please please please don’t know.

“Bucky told me. Do you want to talk about it? Or hear me say I told you so.” Steve can’t help but smirk at you, nudging you with his elbow.

Swatting at his elbow, you throw the covers over your face and hide from him. “GO AWAY.” Shit. You would never live this down now.

Three months later ~

You have been at your new job for 3 months and are really enjoying it. The staff is great, the facilities amazing and the kids are just so eager to learn. And there is more freedom in what you can do. Yes, you came on staff mid-year but that hasn’t stopped it from being an amazing experience.

3 months go by before you see Bucky again. And by see you mean get a snap from Wanda while you’re packing up your supplies from your desk. You have had no contact with Bucky since that afternoon. Steve had tried his hardest to get Bucky to just stop being a stubborn ass and talk to you but it hadn’t worked, so you did exactly what you had done before. You kept going on with life, refusing to admit you missed a certain someone. Steve spent the first month teasing you about everything that happened. You could always count on Steve to help make light of a situation. But eventually he stopped. Thank God.

The problem was you still didn’t know how you truly felt. Yes, you had kissed Bucky but that was for the dare… Right? If you were going to be honest, yes, there was some sort of feeling there. But was it just friendship? Like? … Love?

Exhaling, you grab your phone and open the snap that Wanda has sent you.

She was also a person who was on team (Y/N) and Bucky.  Less annoying than Steve but still trying to do whatever she could to get the two of you in the same room.

The video starts to play and you see Wanda sneaking up on Bucky, that stupid dog filter on his face as he cleans his desk.

“Wanda, what are you doing?” Bucky looks up just as the tongue on that filter pops out to do that weird gross lick

“…. Nothing.” You can imagine the smile on Wanda’s face. That smile that looks so innocent to most but hides a truly evil intention.

Putting his satchel on his shoulder, Bucky raises an eyebrow. “Are you on Snapchat?”

“Maaaaaaybe.” Wanda giggles, the camera jiggling slightly as Bucky lunges for the phone.

“WANDA!!”

And the snap times out. You miss Wanda. Sure, the staff here are great but you haven’t really clicked with anyone here yet. It’s just not the same.

You chuckle and put your phone down. Biting your lip, you realise you finally have to admit it to yourself.

You really miss Bucky. 


	13. 100% perfection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can things really be this easy?

aturday, you meet up with Wanda for some frozen yogurt. Her birthday was coming up next weekend and she had been telling you all about her plans for the event. Wanda loved her birthday. According to her, she has a party every year and it was never a small affair. And one thing she never did was share her party with Pietro. The mere thought of sharing her birthday party with him was just… It was not going to happen.

Pietro had divulged this information when the two of you went for a run a few weeks ago. He was helping you get fit and active. Something you were neglecting since you had moved back. He was a good running partner, he pushed you to run further every time the two of you were out and you were starting to see the difference in your body. And to thank him for all his help, you had promised to introduce him to Daisy, one of the teachers aids at your old work. (Something Wanda was vehemently refusing to do)

“So, have you spoken to Bucky after…?” Wanda says as she mixes her chocolate fudge sauce into her frozen yogurt. You look at her and glare. Were you really having this conversation now?

“I shouldn’t have told you.”

“Probably, but you two are perfect for each other and the sooner you admit you want to bang him, the sooner I can be invited to the wedding.”

“WANDA!!” Your face flushes red as you sink lower in your chair, glaring at Wanda as she giggles around her spoonful of yogurt.

“I know you like him. Just admit it and then go make out with him.”

Your face blushes a darker shade of red as Wanda smirks triumphantly.

“Shut up and eat your yogurt.”

 

A few hours later you say your goodbyes to Wanda. The two of you had spent more than 4 hours eating food, gossiping about everything. Including Bucky. There was more than one instance where you wanted to stuff your napkin down her throat to stop her stupid Bucky comments but you stopped that urge. She was only doing it to annoy you. Too bad it was working.

Hugging Wanda, you get into a taxi and make your way to Steve’s place. He had invited you over to have dinner with Sharon and himself to celebrate his promotion at work. Of course, Traffic was chaotic so you were running late. And the longer you sat in your taxi, the more your anxiety over possibly seeing Bucky played up. Steve had assured you that Bucky wouldn’t be at the dinner as he was going out somewhere, probably on a date or something like the butthead that he was… But you didn’t care…

Back to the point of the matter, you were happy for Steve. This promotion meant a lot to him and you were happy to celebrate it with him.

Okay so yes, you were nervous about possibly seeing Bucky. But going to dinner meant getting free food and Steve always cooked amazing meals and there was no way in the world that ANYTHING or ANYONE would keep you from free food.

A little while later you are walking up to Steve’s Apartment. Your hand is moments away from knocking on the door when it opens abruptly, revealing Bucky looking like a deer caught in headlights. His eyes go wide as he sees you. This is the first moment you have really seen each other since… Your heart drums in your chest as you look at him.

Clearing your throat, you shift your wait to your other leg. “… Hey, James.”

You are met with a beat of silence before Bucky mumbles out a soft “Hey”.

Well this is awkward.

The two of you just stand there looking at each other for a few moments before Steve pops his head into view.

“Y/N! You’re here. FINALLY.” You look to see Steve hovering behind Bucky, a shit eating grin on his stupid face. He was going to pay. “Well come on, we’ve been waiting for you.

With a strained smile towards Steve, you watch as Bucky moves to the side, making room for you to walk into the apartment. You have just made it in when you hear Bucky say a mumbled goodbye and rush out of the apartment.

Well that could have gone better.

Picking up a pillow from the couch, you throw it straight at Steve, hitting him on his stupid smug face.

“You did that on purpose!” you hiss, your arms folding at your chest as you glare at him. “Did you have to do that?”

“Of course I did.” Steve chuckles as he puts the pillow back on the couch.

“I hate you.” You mumble as you angrily take a seat at the table.

“Love you too.”

Sharon walks out a few moments later, a look of confusion on her face that turns into her shaking her head as you describe what just happened. Steve couldn’t look more pleased with himself as he finishes cooking dinner. All thoughts of hatred towards Steve disappear s you and Sharon sit down and have a glass of wine, chatting and catching up about life

 

Dinner goes well until you let something slip. Something that you hadn’t really admitted to yourself but for some reason you decided to tell Steve of all people. It all started when Steve started mentioning Bucky again, about how different he has been the past few weeks and how any girl would be lucky to date him. And if only the object of his affection returned his feelings. Blah blah blah.

“Are you done?” You raise one eyebrow as you push your still full plate forward, losing your appetite suddenly.

“Not until you admit it.” Steve replies, shoving another fork full of pasta into his mouth.

“Well sorry I’ve barely admitted it to myself that I like Bucky- “

 

Silence follows. Your face goes white as a sheet as you realise what you have just said. You finally said it out loud. You had feelings for Bucky.

“Holy fucking shit finally.” Steve says, flinching slightly as Sharon elbows him in the ribcage

Sharon elbows him. “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND. I HAVE BEEN WAITING YEARS FOR THIS MOMENT TO HAPPEN.”

“Steve.” Sharon whispers, trying to calm down Steve’s dramatics.

“Yeah Steve, shut the hell up!” You hiss again, you face as red as a tomato.

“Okay future Mrs James Barnes.”

“Eat a dick, Rogers.”

As the two of you bicker, Sharon starts laughing at the two of you. Any time you and Steve fight, it’s like a brother and a sister fighting. Lots of stupid name calling and rude comments that end in both of you being grumpy for a while before you forget about what you were originally fighting over and end up just relaxing before one of you ‘beats’ the other one up. Or in your case, stealing Steve’s girlfriend and telling her more embarrassing things about her man.

 

“Suck it up princess and go tell him how you feel before I have to sit through more of this bullshit.”

“Oh, poor you.” You mumble under your breath, only Sharon hearing as she snickers quietly.

“Fine, go make out with him or something. I don’t care. Just get him to stop hanging around and bugging me every free second he has. He is even more pathetic over you than normal.”

“It’s true.” Sharon says, moving closer to you.” The two of you should talk. At least clear the air. that way you can at least be in the same room with him compared to whatever the two of you are doing now. And that way, when you’re ready, you can tell him how you feel.” Steve goes to interrupt but Sharon quickly puts her hand over his mouth to silence him. “IF you want to. You never know what could happen, Y/N.”

Sharon had a point. At this point, the two of you couldn’t even look at each other without it being weird. At least before when you ‘hated him’, you could be in the same room. You just didn’t have to talk to him. Taking a large drink of wine, you place your glass down and mutter under your breath.” Fine.”

“Now enough about your future lover.” Steve says, a stupid smug smile on his face

You sigh at Steve, glaring at him and his stupid smiling face.

Let’s talk about the real reason you are here. Me and my promotion.”

 

The next time you see Bucky is the following week. You are home after a long last day at work before break. School was off for a few days which meant you got to sleep in and relax for a few days. You had gotten changed out of your work clothes and into some comfy lounging clothes. Nothing felt better than putting on an oversized T-shirt, a pair of leggings and some comfy socks and just sitting down with some take away Thai food and binge-watching movies.

You were just setting up all your food when a knock on your door startled you. Padding over to your door, you look through the peephole and see Bucky standing there. His hands running through his hair nervously as he paces in a circle waiting for you to open the door.

Quickly taking a deep breath, you open the door.

Bucky’s eyes go straight to you as the door opens, his eyes widening slightly as he takes your form in. His eyes lingering on the shirt you’re wearing. Looking down you notice that you’re wearing the red Henley you took after that Halloween party. After that kiss.

Clearing your throat, you tug at the sleaves of the shirt. “Hey, did you want to come in - “Your heart beating out of your chest as you wait to find out why he is here.

With quick shake of his head, Bucky goes straight into his question. “Are you going to Wanda’s party tomorrow night?”

Wanda’s party. He was here about Wanda’s party. Probably wants to make sure there won’t be any awkward run ins or maybe he doesn’t want to go. I mean yeah, you haven’t known Wanda for as long as Bucky but the two of you were close and she had invited you. And who was he to tell you not to go.

Bucky stands there watching you. An unknown look on his face as he waits for you to answer.

You pull at the collar of your t-shirt. “Uh, yeah I’m going.” God this is so awkward.

With a nod, Bucky seems to be having this internal battle. “Did you want to… Do you know where it is?”

Tilting your head slightly, you mumble your answer. “Yeah, her place. Right?”

“Yep…”

Ore silence follows as you wait for him to keep talking. When it becomes evident that he isn’t going to say anything else, you say the first thing that comes to your mind. “Did you want to come in? I have food and I’m watching a movie and I just thought – “

“Can’t… Already have plans. So, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Your face drops as Bucky moves to turn away, but he stops for a moment. Your eyes stayed glued to him as he quickly moves and kisses you on the cheek. “Have a good night, Y/N.”

And with that he is gone. You slowly close your door, your heart pounding again in your chest as you lean against your door.

Why was he so confusing?

 

Saturday, you spend most of the day relaxing and preparing for that night. It was Wanda’s birthday and after that interesting event yesterday with Bucky, you had come to the decision that you were going to talk to him about everything. Your feelings. What was next?

After getting ready, you get into your taxi and head to Wanda’s house. You had never actually been to her place so you didn’t know what to expect. When your taxi pulls up to this HUGE house, you have to double check with him that this is the right place. The obvious music playing was also a big help in making sure this was Wanda’s place.

This house was insane. How a teacher could afford a place like this was a mystery. You quickly make your way into the house, people everywhere as music blasts from the speakers.

Bucky is already there when you arrive but you don’t notice as you look around the room for Wanda. You nervously tug at your outfit. You had picked out what you thought was a really cute outfit (An emerald green velvet skirt matched with a black sweater and heeled ankle boots) but judging by what everyone was wearing, you were apparently not showing enough skin.

Looking around the room again, your eyes land on Bucky. Your breath hitching as the two of you make eye contact. You smile at him and are about to wave to him when Wanda comes running over, pulling you into a big hug. Laughing, you hug her back and hand her her birthday present.

Before you can register what happened, Pietro is over to the two of you and has snatched the birthday card out of Wanda’s hand.

Opening the card, he frowns. “Where’s my present? This is just for Wanda.”

Opening your handbag, you pull a slip of paper out and hand it to him. “Daisy’s number, as promised.”

“You’re the best, Y/N” In the blink of an eye, Pietro has kissed your cheek and has already run back over to his group of friends, probably bragging about getting a girl’s number. Even though you did all the work. Turning back to Wanda, she pulls you close to whisper in your ear that Bucky can’t keep his eyes off you. You sneak a glance at Bucky and see his eyes focussed on you, his grip tightening around his beer bottle as you watch him.

“Shut up you. Go back to your party.” You swat at her arm, sneaking another glance at Bucky.

“Don’t break his heart. Or his bed.” Wanda whispers, winking at you as you flush red. Ugh Wanda. You shake your head as you watch her run over to another group of people.

 

Exhaling, you turn and make your way to Bucky who is maintaining eye contact with you as you walk over.

You stand beside him as he leans against the wall. The two of you silent as you wait for the other to say something.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

Silence.

Silence is the worst. Nothing good comes from silence. Silence makes you nervous. You start fiddling with your fingers before you do the first thing that comes to mind, you take the beer bottle out of his hands and take a large drink. Bucky eyes glued to your mouth as your lips wrap around the beer bottle.

Coughing slightly, you hand the drink back to him. “Wow, that tastes like shit.”

He snorts at you. “There’s a reason why I’ve been nursing it for half an hour.”

More silence

Fuck it.

Turning to him, you move closer and say, “Want to go get another drink?”

“Uh, sure.”

Your heart is pounding in your chest as you grab his hand and pull him along with you as you walk over to the bar that Wanda has set up.

His fingers link with yours as if on instinct, only leaving yours when he grabs his new drink.

It’s funny how perfect his hand feels in yours.

“Are we?” Bucky says, a look of hope on his face.

“Hmmm?” You look up at him confused, you are 100% sure you missed part of this conversation.

“Fuck,” He runs a hand through his hands, messing up his hair. “Are we still friends. I just can’t not be your friend, Y/N. that’s all I want. All that shit before. I just… Pretend it never happened. Okay.”

Well that hurt. Your heart dropped. Were you friends though? Did you just want to be friends with him? Could you?

And the answer was no. you didn’t just want to be his friend but just like he says. He just wants to be your friend now. That chance however random and small it was, it’s over now.

Because of you. you shut down his confession straight away and now you were paying the price.

“Of course, James, I’ll always be your friend.” Your heart drops at this but you hide it with a smile. “Even if you piss me off.”

He flashes you a smile. One of those smiles that transforms his face into an even more handsome one.

You spend a good amount of the night with Bucky, talking casually about work and just catching up really in between moments when Wanda grabs you and pulls you to the dance area. Her arms going around you, forcing you to dance close to her. Now you have never seen Wanda drunk and boy was she drunk. It was funny watching her hiccup every second word as she continued to twirl around in circles.

With one final dance, you make your escape and run back over to Bucky who has been watching you dance with Wanda

It’s nearly midnight when you feel Bucky’s hand on the small of your back. “Want to explore the house?” 

Nodding, you hop off the stool you had been sitting on and follow Bucky through the house. His hands find their way to yours as you walk up the stairs.

This house is HUGE. There was just a sea of doors that led to more amazing rooms. There were people upstairs as well but not as many, most were hovering around the bar or dancing.

Walking down a long corridor, you find glass panelled doors. Opening them up, you find a games room. A pool table in the centre and the walls holding motor cross racing games, pinball machines and an air hockey table against the far wall.

“Fancy a game?” Bucky appears behind you and motions to the air hockey table.

Shrugging, you make your way in, setting your drink down on the table next to the air hockey table and getting ready on your side of the table.

You grab everything you need and wait for Bucky to find his. After a moment of him taking too long, you push the puck into his goal, scoring yourself one point.

“HEY, that’s cheating.”

“It’s only cheating if you can prove it. We’re playing by my rules.” With a grin, you take a sip of your drink. Your hips moving to the song that could be heard playing downstairs.

“And what are your rules?” Bucky says, his eyes glued to you again as you dance to the song.

“You will just have to see.”

The two of you fall back into that weird almost flirty comfort that the two of you were at months ago. Before the confession. Before the kiss.

It was confusing as hell. Was this going to be the default for your friendship. A flirty kind a friendship that will forever stay just as that.

You win multiple games which just has Bucky calling you are a dirty cheater. After one final loss, and Bucky cursing more than you had ever heard from him, you decide to be fair and let him choose a different game.

“RACING.”

What is it with boys and their cars.

The two of you take your drinks and go over to the racing games. Proceeding to play a few rounds that you lose miserably. It was almost embarrassing at how bad at racing games you are but you are adamant that it’s because of a faulty game and not because of the distracting grunting noises Bucky was making

Getting out of the seat, you lean against the pool table and take another sip of your beer.

“Fine. I concede. You win this round, Mr Barnes.” You laugh softly and sigh happily as you run your fingers through your hair, loosening up some of your curls as Bucky steps closer to you, grabbing your beer out of your hand and drinking the rest of it in one large gulp.

“That’s because you cheated the first time.” Bucky moves closer to you again. Your drink sitting on the edge of the pool table.

“Says who?” Your eyes watch Bucky as his arms cage you against the pool table, his eyes glued to your lips as you bite your bottom lip slightly.

“Me.” Bucky says as his head dips, waiting for a sign for him to stop. It’s when your body moves closer to his that he makes his move, his lips about to brush against yours.

Your eyes close as you lean forward but a loud bang causing the two of you to jump apart.

Two very drunk strangers are prying the doors open.

“Is there a bathroom here?” One of the strangers says, swaying slightly as he talks to Bucky.

“Next door, man.”

With a nod, the two strangers are gone a moment later. Off to probably ruin one of Wanda’s poor bathrooms.

Although a perk of this moment was that it gave you an opportunity to calm your racing heart.

Reaching down, you pick up the empty beer bottle that had dropped to the floor after…

“Let’s get out of here.” Standing up, you see Bucky standing with his hand out for you. “We could go for a walk or?”

You smile. “A walk would be nice.


	14. The final frontier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long journey, we finally find out where readers heart lies and if her heart has space for Bucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND ITS OFFICIALLY OVER!!  
> Thank you to everyone who has read this and left kudos or comments!  
> I'm still over on tumblr so come send me a message and i'll see you in the next fic.

Pulling Wanda off the dance floor for a moment alone is easier said than done.  She does NOT want to stop dancing and she is a lot stronger than she looks. It’s only when you yell that you need to speak to her and the fact that you nearly pull her arm off that she relents and walks with you. You can see the smirk forming on her face as you tell her where you are going, and more importantly WHO you are going with.

With a kiss to her cheek and a quick hug, you bid your farewell to Wanda and move to leave the party with Bucky. Just as the two of you are walking down the driveway, you hear the front door to the house burst open and can hear an obnoxious and slightly drunk Wanda catcalling from the front door. Shooting a glare in her direction, you start to walk faster away from the party, cursing Wanda under your breath.

God damn Wanda. Of course she wants to make a big scene out of this.

Both of you walk in silence. Your fingers brushing against Bucky’s as the two of you make your way together down the street. You start to feel his fingers tickling against your palm just as his phone rings loudly in his pocket. Biting your bottom lip, you watch his face as he answers the phone. Loud fits of laughter can be heard on the other side of the phone call as Bucky shakes his head, chuckling as the person on the phone continues to talk.

Bucky shoots a smile at you and mouths ‘Wanda’ with a roll of his eyes. Without thinking too much about it, you grab his phone and hang up, the last words heard screaming out of the phone from Wanda being “DON’T FUCK THIS UP AGAIN!”

Bucky watches you as you put his phone back in his jacket pocket, a look of confusion on his face.

With a shrug of your shoulders, you grab his hand, pulling him to continue walking with you. “What It’s my time with you.” You reply, biting your bottom lip as you pull him behind you.

“You can have me for as long as you want, doll.” Bucky replies with a small smirk on his face.

Coming to a stop, you drop his hand and turn around to glare at him, poking him in the chest as he laughs at you. “What did I say about your cheesy pet names! Knock it off, BARNES”

You hear Bucky chuckle as you walk away.

“Sure thing, babe.” Bucky replies as he jogs up to you and takes your hand again.

Feeling your face flush red, you keep your face pointed away from Bucky which is made especially hard as he has pulled you closer to him, his arm hooking around your shoulder pulling you closer to his chest.

“Race you to the park over there, (Y/N).”

In a matter of seconds, Bucky has sped off across the vacant road and is running towards the local park. With a laugh, you run after him as much as you could in your boots. And to make things worse, Bucky is now kind of running backwards just to taunt you and your inability to run faster in your shoes. 

“Don’t be a dick!” you yell out to him, trying to quickly pull your shoes off so you don’t fall over in the sand pit. You just finish pulling your boots off when you feel your body being lifted off the ground. With a squeal, you grasp on to Bucky’s shirt as he picks you up over his shoulder. “James!!”

“Yes, Doll.”

“Put me down!!” You can hear Bucky laughing at you as you flail in his arms, “I SWEAR TO GOD, JAMES!”

After a few more expletive words, Bucky puts you back on the ground, slipping out of your reach as you try to shove him. “Now there is no need for that. Be a good girl, (Y/N)”

Rolling your eyes, you make your way to the swings and sit down, your toes wiggling in the sand pit below you. Biting your lip, you feel Bucky walk behind you and take a seat beside you. 

“I haven’t been to the park in years,” Bucky says, his feet kicking off the ground as he starts to move back and forth on the swing. “I forgot how nice it can be.” “That’s because we’re adults and it would be mean to steal the swings from some poor kid. You reply, chuckling. 

“Adults schmadults.”

 A quiet snort escapes you as you try not to laugh. “And you call yourself a teacher.” “Shut up.” 

The smile on Bucky’s face has your cheeks heating up slightly. It was amazing how a simple smile could have your heart racing and fluttering at the same time.

This was a place that you never thought you would be. Getting all flustered over the one guy that you at one point had repeatedly thought about punching in the face and spent even longer not thinking about at all… Kind of. Are you really blushing over the one guy that you used to curse mentally and verbally every time you heard his stupid name?  

 

 

The night goes by very quickly. During the time the two of you have been at the park, you and Bucky have moved from the swings to the monkey bars, then over to the weird flying fox machine that looks like it could kill a child before finally moving over to the slide. You’re sitting on the top of the slide as you watch Bucky try to climb up the slippery metal base. He is just about to reach the top when you lean over and tickle him, causing him to fall and slide down to the bottom.

A loud laugh comes from you as you watch Bucky glare up at you.

“Oops.” You smile innocently, batting your eyelashes before bursting out into a fit of laughter.

But before you know it, Bucky has grabbed your ankles and pulled you down the slide. A squeal makes its way out of your mouth as you move down the slide, ending up curled slightly under Bucky. The two of you make eye contact, breaths fanning across each other’s faces before Bucky clears his throat, moving away. Your head rests back against the slide as you catch your breath.

What is he doing to you?

With one last deep breath, you make your mind up that you need to get out of here before you do something incredibly stupid. Like kiss him. Or worse. Sitting up, you awkwardly adjust your clothing and let Bucky know that you need to head on home. How much more awkwardness can you take with him.

Bucky, ever the gentleman insists on walking you home. Even when you are still looking for a reason to hate him, he proves that he can be sweet and charming. It comes so naturally to him.

Has he always been like this and you just haven’t noticed? Or is this all an act? Or is this the ‘new’ Bucky that mentioned?

The walk home is a quiet one. Neither of you are talking. The only thing you can hear is your breathing and the falls of your footsteps.

It is true what they say though, silence is indeed deafening.

As you get closer to your apartment, you start counting how many steps you have left till you are in your apartment and away from this incredibly awkward situation. 

But life seems to have other plans for you. If someone would have said one year ago that you would be spending your night alone with Bucky Barnes, you would have laughed. But this is what has happened and seems to still be happening. The world can be mean sometimes.

It was all going well until you got to your door. Bucky was about to say goodnight and turn away, finally freeing you from the silences and the looks. But you did the one thing you shouldn’t have done. You invited him in.

And now here you are, sitting in your apartment with a blanket over your lap and a hot cup of coffee in your hands while Bucky sits next to you, looking at your old photo albums and scrapbooks from High School that your mother had sent over. 

You had unfortunately slipped up and told her that you were 'talking’ to Bucky which just led into a very embarrassing conversation about how your mother thinks its sweet that you have reconnected with him and how Bucky is an attractive young man and he is sure to have changed since high school and even though his comment hurt you, you grew stronger from it and now you can be civil to each other, blah blah blah. Oh and to top it all off, she even was dropping hints about how he would make any mother proud to have him as a son in law.

Subtlety was one thing your mother was not good at.

A loud snort breaks you out of your thoughts as Bucky points out one of the photos from Steve’s 14th Birthday party. You’re rolling your eyes at Bucky in the picture as he stands, leaning against Steve.

 There are pictures and letters and cards from your childhood all throughout the album. One card, in particular, seems to catch Bucky’s eye as he scans the page.

 “It was my first ever Valentine card, so I had to keep it. It’s dorky to keep an anonymous card, I know.” You say, placing your cup on the coffee table in front of you.

“The only dorky thing Is this card. I don’t know why I chose it.” He mumbles.

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

“James-“ Your heart is hammering in your chest and keeps getting worse as Bucky tries to maintain eye contact with you..

“It’s not a big deal.”

“I just… Why?” You say softly, pulling the blanket around you more.

‘Because it’s you.” His eyes drop to your lips as you pull your bottom lip between your teeth

An awkward silence fills the room as you fully absorb what Bucky has said. So Bucky was the mysterious 5th-grade valentine. You pull the blanket up to hide some of your face as you bite your lip to hide your smile.

Bucky notices what you’re doing and continues to flip through the pages of photos, you can’t help but notice though that the smile on his face starts to drop as the photos get to more recent ones.

The pictures from your first year in college, that holiday overseas where you spent basically every day on the beach. Selfies and group pictures with college friends and Steve. And the pictures from your graduation. Steve is hugging you from behind, kissing your cheek as you scrunch your face up. All the bits of your life that Bucky has never seen or been a part of.

Clearing your throat, you grab the album off Bucky and tuck it away at your side.

“Enough of the old memories.” Quickly jumping up, you leave a bewildered Bucky alone as you go into your bedroom and grab your Polaroid camera and rush back to the couch, sitting close to Bucky and pulling him in for a photo. “Here’s to new memories.”

After snapping a few photos, you wait for them to fully develop before going through them. The last photo is probably your favourite. Bucky is watching you as you smile for the camera. Putting down the camera, you pick up that individual photo and easily stick it in your photo album.

You just finish flattening out the image when you see Bucky pick up the camera. “How about one more?”

With a smile, you cuddle up next to Bucky as he holds the camera in position. Just as he is about to press the shutter, you feel your face being moved and a pair of lips are brushing against yours. More importantly, Bucky’s lips.

Cupping his face, you gently kiss back, it’s only when you hear the camera eject the film do you pull away. Looking down, you see the picture falling in your lap as it develops. A perfect picture of your kiss with Bucky.

The two of you make eye contact before you pull him in for another kiss, your hands sliding into his hair as his arms go around your waist, pulling you closer. Your foreheads resting together before you mumble a simple word. “Bucky.”

Bucky’s face split into a big smile. “You called me Bucky.”

You smile and kiss him again, smiling against his lips as he cups your face.

 

 

The sun is streaming through your bedroom window as you wake up late the next morning, your face nuzzling into the firm body beneath you.

Bucky blinks and wakes up as well, looking down to see you watching him.

“Hi.” You whisper

“Hi, Peach.”

You slap his chest again as he bursts into laughter at your reaction. “No pet names!”

Rolling over, you start to stretch when you feel Bucky jump up out of your bed.

“SHIT!” Bucky exclaims as he looks at his phone and at the time.

“What?” You giggle, flopping back into your bed.

“I’m late. Steve’s going to kill me.”

You giggle again as Bucky runs around the room, picking his clothes up frantically.

He looks around for his shirt before you clear your throat, throwing the covers off your body and pointing to his shirt that you went to bed in.

“Keep it.” He says with a grin on his face.  He grabs his jacket and zips it up to cover his bare chest. “I’ll call you.”

And before you can say a thing, he is out the door.

Shaking your head, you burrow further into your bed, pulling the blankets back over your bare legs and body when you hear and see Bucky rush back in again.

“What are you-“

He leans on the bed and kisses you again, taking your breath away for the millionth time since last night.

You have just enough willpower to break the kiss and mumble out “What about Steve?”

“Fuck Steve.” And with that, his jacket is thrown across the room again and his lips are back on yours.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading!!  
> Don't forget to leave a comment or kudos or hit me up on Tumblr.  
> I am verycoolveryunique over there.  
> Bye darlings xoxo


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